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CASI January 2026 Charter Chat Resource Page

Information and resources from the January 2026 Charter Chat, presented by the Charter Authorizer Support Initiative (CASI).

Charter Chat Topics

  1. Legislative Updates by Santa Clara County Office of Education
  2. Program Hot Topics
  3. Fiscal Hot Topics
  4. California Department of Education and State Board of Education Updates
  5. Upcoming CASI Events
  6. Previous Charter Chat Q&A

Disclaimer

The information contained on this page is provided as a reference only. Charter schools and chartering authorities are encouraged to review the laws and regulations and consult with their own legal counsel regarding the application to their specific situations.

Legislative Updates by Santa Clara County Office of Education

The Legislature is now back in session and has until February 21, 2026 to introduce new legislation.

Please note that a majority of the new laws enacted during 2025 took effect January 1, 2026.

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Program Hot Topics

  • Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) Midyear Update
    The following guidance has been added to California Department of Education (CDE) Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) FAQs as of October 2023:
    • What are the requirements for the mid-year update to the LCAP?
      All charter schools, school districts, and county offices of education (COEs) are required to present a report on the annual update to the LCAP and the LCFF Budget Overview for Parents on or before February 28 of each year at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board or body of the local educational agency (LEA). The mid-year report must include the following:
      • All available mid-year outcome data related to metrics identified in the current year’s LCAP, and
      • All available mid-year expenditure and implementation data on all actions identified in the current year’s LCAP (California Education Code [EC] sections 47606.5, 52062, and 52068).
    • Is there a required template for the mid-year update?
      No, there is no requirement for LEAs to use any particular template. It is up to the LEA to determine how to present and report the required information to their local governing board or body.
    • Will the mid-year update report be included in the LCAP?
      No, the mid-year update will not be included in the LCAP; however, the information presented may inform the development of the following year’s LCAP.
  • Nonclassroom-Based Charter School Moratorium Ends
    On January 1, 2026, the moratorium on new nonclassroom-based charter schools ended.
  • Middle Performance Tier Renewal Criteria Updated
    On January 1, 2026, EC Section 47607.2 was repealed and replaced with new language in EC Section 47607.2, removing verified data from the renewal criteria for middle performance tier schools:
    In determining whether to renew a middle performing charter, the chartering authority is to consider the following: The schoolwide and subgroup performance on the state and local indicators on the Dashboard, giving greater weight to measurements of academic performance.
  • 2026 Charter School Performance Category List
    On January 8, 2026, the CDE released the new Charter School Performance Category list. The Performance Category Data File is based on the 2024 and 2025 California School Dashboard. This file is available at CDE Performance Categories.
  • California Growth Metric Webinar Q&A
    • February 2, 2026, 11 a.m.
    • Growth Webinar Q&A Zoom Registration
  • California Schools Dashboard Navigator Tool External link opens in new window or tab.
    A demonstration of this tool was provided by Jonathan Isler of CDE’s Analysis, Measurement and Accountability Reporting Division and is available to view on this Charter Chat's YouTube video at CASI Charter Chat Meeting, January 2026 External link opens in new window or tab.(Video; 47:01) at 20:33.

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Fiscal Hot Topics

  • Second Interim
    Pursuant to EC Section 47604.33(a)(3), the Second Interim Report is due to the chartering authority and the COE by no later than March 15 for the reporting period ending January 31.

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California Department of Education and State Board of Education Updates

  • The State Board of Education (SBE) meeting was held on January 14, 2026. The agenda included: consolidated application approval, nonclassroom-based funding determinations, assignment of charter numbers, and approval of Comprehensive Support and Improvement plans. The next SBE meeting is scheduled for March 11–12, 2026.
  • The December Advisory Commission on Charter Schools (ACCS) meeting was held on December 9, 2025. The agenda included: nonclassroom-based funding determinations. The next ACCS meeting is scheduled for February 3, 2026.

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Upcoming CASI Events

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Previous Charter Chat Q&A

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When reviewing a data set from a charter school for renewal, what do you do if the participation rate is 60 percent?

When the participation rate is under 95 percent, a LOSS is applied to each student needed to bring the participation rate to 95 percent. The California School Dashboard (Dashboard) additional reports (Math/ELA/Science placement reports) and downloadable files provide the participation rate and number of assigned LOSS scores added.

Note: The value of only tested students is provided to show how much the overall score was affected by participation rate, but should not be used for any evaluation purposes, as it is not representative of all students and may be a pre-selected group of students.

Which schools are on the Differentiated Assistance (DA) list?

The Charter School Assistance Status spreadsheet is released with the Dashboard each year. It can be found at California Department of Education Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) under the subheading LCFF Support and Assistance.

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Questions: Charter Authorizer Support Initiative | CASI@cde.ca.gov | 916-322-6029 
Last Reviewed: Monday, March 9, 2026
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