Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

Mandate Block Grant Application for Funding
Fiscal Year 2026–27

The purpose of this letter is to notify local educational agencies (LEAs) that the 2026–27 Mandate Block Grant (MBG) Application has been released. The MBG funding is available to county offices of education (COEs), school districts, and charter schools (both direct and locally funded) that elect to participate. MBG funds are specifically intended to fund the costs of mandated programs and activities identified in Government Code (GC) Section 17581.6(f). The list of programs has been amended for 2026–27 to add Public School Restrooms: Menstrual Products (22-TC-04; Chapter 644 of the Statutes of 2021).

The MBG Application and other important details, including this informational letter, the list of mandated programs and activities supported by the MBG, and the notification of suspended mandates, may be accessed on the MBG Request for Application (RFA) web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/fo/r14/mandatebg26rfa.asp.

Pursuant to GC Section 17581.6, LEAs make an annual choice to receive funds for specified mandated programs and activities, either through the MBG or through the claim reimbursement process pursuant to GC Section 17560. Because the claims process does not include charter schools, the MBG is the only vehicle for charter schools to receive such funding.

In fiscal year 2026–27, each LEA will notify the California Department of Education (CDE) of its decision to participate in the MBG by submission of the web-based MBG Application, which serves as the Letter Requesting Funding. On the MBG RFA web page, LEAs will select the link titled “MBG Application” to find logon instructions. As part of the CDE’s web-based application modernization efforts, all LEAs will receive a new password for the MBG Application for the current reporting year. Passwords established in prior reporting cycles will not carry forward and cannot be reused.

Submission of the MBG Application must be completed by August 30, 2026, to receive 2026–27 MBG funding.

An election not to participate may be communicated to the CDE by submitting the MBG Application with a selection of non-participation or by sending an email to Mandate@cde.ca.gov with the LEA’s name and county-district-school code. Prior to the application deadline, follow-up emails will be sent to LEAs that have not notified the CDE of their election. The participation status of all LEAs eligible for the 2026–27 MBG is available on the CDE’s MBG web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/mandatebg.asp.

The Budget Act of 2026, Assembly Bill 109 (Chapter 19, Statutes of 2026) appropriates $279,069,000 for the MBG program. Allocation of funds is based on average daily attendance (ADA) as of the 2025–26 Second Principal Apportionment. The 2026–27 funding rates set forth in Item 6100-296-0001 of the Budget Act of 2026 are displayed in the table below. If available funds are insufficient to apportion funding to participating LEAs at the established rates, funding rates shall be reduced proportionally.

MBG Frequently Asked Questions are available on the CDE’s MBG web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca/mandatebgfaq.asp.

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact the Categorical Allocations and Audit Resolution Office by email at Mandate@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Keith Smith, Education Fiscal Services Administrator
Categorical Allocations and Audit Resolutions Office
School Fiscal Services Division

KS:cm

1Countywide ADA is defined as the aggregate number of units of ADA within the county attributable to all school districts for which the county superintendent of schools has jurisdiction pursuant to Section 1253 of the California Education Code, charter schools within the county, and the schools operated by the county superintendent of schools.