Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

Release of Charter School Performance Category Data File

The California Department of Education (CDE) is announcing the release of the Charter School Performance Category Data File based on the 2024 and 2025 California School Dashboards (Dashboard). The list of charter schools and their respective performance categories can be accessed at Performance Categories.

Pursuant to California Education Code (EC) Section 47607(c), as an additional criterion for determining whether to approve a charter renewal, the chartering authority shall consider a charter school’s placement under the performance categories, which is based on the charter school's performance on the Dashboard.

Under this criterion, a charter school is placed into one of the three performance categories, high, middle, or low. The determinations for charter renewals for each category are the following:

• High: A charter school in this category is eligible for a five-, six-, or seven-year renewal term.
• Middle: A charter school in this category may be renewed for a five-year term.
• Low: A charter school in this category may be renewed for a two-year term only if it meets the conditions under EC Section 47607.2(a)(3).

Dashboard Alternative Schools Status (DASS) charter schools are not included in the data file. DASS charter schools have their own renewal criteria and are not eligible to be placed in a performance category. A list of DASS schools is available at Active DASS Schools. Additional information about DASS is available at Charter School Renewals.

To assist local educational agencies and charter schools in understanding the criteria for determining performance categories and provide support on the public release of this data set, please refer to the resources available at Performance Categories. Note that the Determining Charter School Performance Category Flyer was updated for this release based on the State Board of Education’s adoption of performance levels for the Science Indicator on the Dashboard in 2025.

Please direct all questions to the Charter Schools Division by email at charters@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

/s/

Ric Reyes, Director
Charter Schools Division

Cindy Kazanis, Director
Analysis, Measurement, and Accountability Reporting Division