New Grade Level Expansion Letter, FY 2009–10

November 18, 2009

Dear Select County and District Superintendents, Chief Business Officials, and
Directors of New Grade Level Expansion Charter Schools:

NOTICE OF 20 DAY ACTUAL SPECIAL APPORTIONMENT FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS
NEW GRADE LEVEL EXPANSION FISCAL YEAR 2009-10

In accordance with Education Code (EC) Section 47652, the California Department of Education (CDE) has made the second of two special apportionments of general purpose state aid and categorical block grant funds to charter schools that are adding at least one new grade level this fall. This apportionment is for the months December 2009 and January 2010 and equals approximately 18 percent of the charter school's projected total general purpose state aid funding and the categorical block grant funding for the 2009-10 fiscal year. Also included in the special apportionment is state aid to school districts to backfill their transfer to charter schools funding in lieu of property taxes, for the months December 2009 and January 2010, which equals 18 percent of the charter school’s projected total in lieu of property taxes funding for the 2009-10 fiscal year. The special apportionment is based on the charter school’s first 20 days of actual average daily attendance.

Charter schools that are funded pursuant to the block grant funding model should receive that portion of their funding that is in lieu of property taxes from the charter school's sponsoring local educational agency (LEA). EC Section 47632 defines the sponsoring LEA as the district that granted the charter, or in the case of a charter that was denied by a district and subsequently approved by a county office, the district that initially denied the charter. For a county office of education approved charter school whose students are referred by parental request pursuant to subdivision (b) of EC Section 1981 or for a county-wide charter whose students reside in a basic aid district, the sponsoring LEA is the district of residence of each pupil in the school. That means some county-approved charter schools will have multiple sponsoring districts if the school has students who reside in different districts. For a charter that was denied by an LEA and subsequently approved by the State Board of Education, the sponsoring LEA is the LEA that initially denied the charter or the LEA designated by the State Board of Education pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (k) of EC Section 47605.

The warrants should be mailed by the State Controller’s Office to the County Treasurer within three weeks from the date of this letter. The County Treasurer of each county is requested to immediately deposit the amount received into the appropriate fund or account of the participating LEAs or charter schools at the direction of the County Superintendent of Schools.

For charter schools that elect to receive funding directly, EC Section 47651 provides that “the warrant shall be drawn in favor of the superintendent of schools of the county in which the LEA that approved the charter or was designated by the State Board of Education as the oversight agency pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (k) of Section 47605 is located, for deposit to the appropriate funds or accounts of the charter school in the county treasury. The county superintendent of schools is authorized to establish appropriate funds or accounts in the county treasury for each charter school.” For all other charter schools, the funds shall be deposited in the appropriate funds or accounts of the LEA that granted the charter.

For charter schools using the standardized account code structure, use Resource Code 0000 and Revenue Object Code 8590 to account for the Charter School Categorical Block Grant, use Resource Code 0000 and Revenue Object Code 8015 to account for the General Purpose Entitlement, and for charter school sponsoring LEAs, use Resource Code 0000 and Revenue Object Code 8011 for the funds in lieu of property taxes transfer.

The amount apportioned to each participating charter school and charter school sponsoring LEA is available on the CDE’s Web site under Principal Apportionments at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/. Additional information about charter schools is available at that same Web site. If you have any questions regarding this apportionment or about funding for charter schools, please contact Byron Fong, Fiscal Consultant, Charter Apportionments and District Reorganization Office, at 916-323-0498 or by e-mail at byfong@cde.ca.gov, or Caryn Moore, Administrator, Charter Apportionments and District Reorganization Office, at 916-324-4541 or by e-mail at cmoore@cde.ca.gov [Note, the preceding contact information is no longer valid. For assistance, please contact the office of Principal Apportionment and Special Education by email at PASE@cde.ca.gov or by phone at 916-324-4541].

Sincerely,

Scott Hannan, Director
School Fiscal Services Division

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Enclosure