Friday, May 9, 2014

Charter School Submission Package Information - Resources (CA Dept of Education)

Charter School Submission Package Information - Resources (CA Dept of Education):



Charter School Submission Package Information

The following are guidelines for completing the Notice for Charter School Number request form. This form was revised as of May 2014.




Guidance for Completing a Charter Submission Package

For additional information please contact Charlene Schmid at 916-323-1646 or by e-mail at cschmid@cde.ca.gov.
Charter School Information:
  • Provide the Charter School Name as it appears on the Charter Petition and board approved minutes.
  • Provide the lead petitioner or preferred contact person, contact phone number, mailing address, and e-mail.
  • Provide the grade levels the charter school was approved to serve.
  • Provide the funding option as either Direct, where the funds come to the school directly from the county office of education, or Local, where funds come to the school through the authorizing school district.
  • Indicate if the school will operate year round or on a traditional schedule.
  • Provide the estimated enrollment for start up.
  • Indicate the type of instructional delivery.
Classroom-based Instruction
As defined by California Education Code Section 47612.5(e)(1):
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and as a condition of apportionment, “classroom-based instruction” in a charter school, for the purposes of this part, occurs only when charter school pupils are engaged in educational activities required of those pupils and are under the immediate supervision and control of an employee of the charter school who possesses a valid teaching certification in accordance with subdivision (l) of Section 47605. For purposes of calculating average daily attendance for classroom-based instruction apportionments, at lease 80 percent of the instructional time offered by the charter school shall be at the schoolsite, and the charter school shall require the attendance of all pupils for whom a classroom-based apportionment is claimed at the school site for at least 80 percent of the minimum instructional time required to be offered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 47612.5.
Additionally, as defined in California Code of Regulations, Title 5, Section 11963(a):
In accordance with the definition of classroom-based instruction specified in Education Code Section 47612.5(e)(1), and for purposes of identifying and reporting that portion of a charter school’s average daily attendance that is generated through nonclassroom-based instruction pursuant to Education Code sections 47634.2(c) and 47612.5(e)(2), classroom-based instruction in a charter school occurs only when all four of the following conditions are met.
  • The charter school’s pupils are engaged in educational activities required of those pupils, and the pupils are under the immediate supervision and control of an employee of the charter school who is authorized to provide instruction to the pupils within the meaning of Education Code section 47605(l).
  • At least 80 percent of the instructional time offered at the charter school is at the school site.
  • The charter school’s school site is a facility that is used principally for classroom.
  • The charter school requires its pupils to be in attendance at the school site at least 80 percent of the minimum instructional time required pursuant to Education Code section 47612.5(a)(1).
Nonclassroom-based Instruction
As defined by California Education Code Section 47612.5(d)(1):
Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as provided in paragraph (1) of subdivision (e), a charter school that has an approved charter may receive funding for nonclassroom-based instruction only if a determination for funding is made pursuant to Section 47634.2 by the State Board of Education. The determination for funding shall be subject to any conditions or limitations the State Board of Education may prescribe. The State Board of Education shall adopt regulations on or before February 1, 2002, that define and establish general rules governing nonclassroom-based instruction that apply to all charter schools and to the process for determining funding of nonclassroom-based instruction by charter schools offering nonclassroom-based instruction other than the nonclassrom-based instruction allowed by paragraph (1) of subdivision (e). Nonclassroom-based instruction includes, but is not limited to, independent study, home study, work study, and distance and computer-based education.
Additionally as defined by California Education Code Section 47612.5(e)(2) for the purposes of this part, “nonclassroom instruction” or “nonclassroom-based instruction” means instruction that does not meet the requirements specified in paragraph (1).
Combination of Classroom-based and Nonclassroom-based Instruction
Is only to be selected if the approved charter school petition articulates how some of the student population will be served by definition of classroom-based instruction, and a different set of the student population will be served by the definition of nonclassroom-based instruction. If this is applicable, please indicate the estimated percentage of students that will participate in each of the site types.
  • Indicate if funding will be claimed for any pupils residing in a county adjacent to the county where charter school was authorized as stated in California Education Code Section 51747.3(b).
Notwithstanding paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 47605 or any other provision of law, community school and independent study average daily attendance shall be claimed by school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools only for pupils who are residents of the county in which the apportionment claim is reported, or who are residents of a county immediately adjacent to the county in which the apportionment claim is reported.
  • Provide the dates of the Board Meetings for the Public Hearing and Approval of the Charter School Petition.
  • Provide the month and year that students will begin instruction.
  • Provide the term of the charter school as specified in the board minutes or official notice from the authorizer. The term of the charter refers to the length of time the charter school is approved. Charters cannot be approved to operate more than five years per one term.
  • Indicate if this is a countywide benefit charter as defined in California Education Code Section 47605.6(a)(1) as in addition to the authority provided by Section 47605.5, a county board of education may also approve a petition for the operation of a charter school that operates at one or more sites within the geographic boundaries of the county and that provides instructional services that are not generally provided by a county office of education. A county board of education may approve a countywide charter only if it finds, in addition to the other requirements of this section, that the educational services to be provided by the charter school will offer services to a pupil population that will benefit from those services and that cannot be served as well by a charter school that operates in only one school district in the county.
  • Indicate if this is a conversion charter school as defined in California Education Code Section 47605(a)(2) as a petition that proposes to convert an existing public school to a charter school that would not be eligible for a loan pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 41365 may be circulated by one or more persons seeking to establish the charter school. The petition may be submitted to the governing board of the school district for review after the petition is signed by not less than 50 percent of the permanent status teachers currently employed at the public school to be converted.
  • Indicate if this is a county approved charter as defined in California Education Code Section 47605.5 as a petition may be submitted directly to a county board of education in the same manner as set forth in Section 47605 for charter schools that will serve pupils for whom the county office of education would otherwise be responsible for providing direct education and related services. Any denial of a petition shall be subject to the same process for any other county board of education denial of a charter school petition pursuant to this part.
  • Indicate if this charter school is part of a Charter Management Organization. If so, please provide the name of the Charter Management Organization.
Authorizing Local Education Agency Information
  • Provide the district or county office of education that approved your charter petition.
  • Provide the contact person at the local education agency, this person’s title, phone, and e-mail address as well as the county if the authorizer is a district office.
Proposed Charter School’s Physical Location for School Facility, if Classroom-based
  • Provide the physical address for the classroom-based school facility. If this location has not been secured, provide the zip code of the area where facilities will be negotiated.
  • Indicate if this location is within the geographical boundaries of the authorizing district. If the proposed site is not within the authorizer’s district, indicate compliance with any and all requirements pursuant to California Education CodeSection 47605(a)(5) as a charter school that is unable to locate within the jurisdiction of the chartering school district may establish one site outside the boundaries of the school district, but within the county in which that school district is located, if the school district within the jurisdiction of which the charter school proposes to operate is notified in advance of the charter petition approval, the county superintendent of schools and the Superintendent are notified of the location of the charter school before it commences operations, and either of the following circumstances exist:
  • The school has attempted to locate a single site or facility to house the entire program, but a site or facility is unavailable in the area in which the school chooses to locate.
  • The site is needed for temporary use during a construction or expansion project.
  • Indicate if there is another school already located at this address. If so, provide the school name, grade span and administrator’s name.
Proposed Charter School’s Satellite or Resource Center Addresses, if Applicable
California Education Code Section 47305.1(c) states,         
Notwithstanding any other provision, a charter school may establish a resource center, meeting space, or other satellite facility located in a county adjacent to that in which the charter school is authorized if the following conditions are met:
  • The facility is used exclusively for the educational support of pupils who are enrolled in nonclassroom-based independent study of the charter school.
  • The charter school provides its primary educational services in, and a majority of the pupils it serves are residents of, the county in which the school is authorized.
  • Provide the physical address for all approved satellite or resource centers, and the county of each location.
  • Attach additional address information if more than two sites are approved.
Proposed Nonclassroom-based Charter School’s Business Address
  • Provide the business address for the charter school.
Certification
  • The superintendent’s original initials are required for each of the certifications. If a Designee provides initials, the Designee is representing compliance with defined Educational Codes on behalf of the Authorizing agency.
EC Section 47605(i) states:

Upon the approval of the petition by the governing board of the school district, the petitioner or petitioners shall provide written notice of that approval, including a copy of the petition, to the applicable county superintendent of schools, the department, and the state board.
  • The petitioner’s original initials are required for each of the certifications representing compliance with defined Educational Codes on behalf of the charter school.
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2014 STANDARDIZED ACCOUNT CODE STRUCTURE SOFTWARE—BUDGET RELEASE
The 2014 budget version of the Standardized Account Code Structure (SACS) financial reporting software (SACS2014 Budget) is now available on our Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/sf/fr/. This version of the software includes only those components necessary to complete the 2014–15 budget reports. A second release is planned for early July 2014 and will include, in addition to the 2014–15 budget components, the 2013–14 unaudited actual and the 2014–15 interim reporting components of the software.

This year our efforts were primarily focused on required changes. The most notable changes relate to the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), GASB Statement 63 (GASB 63) and GASB Statement 65 (GASB 65), and modifying the SACS2014 software to mitigate the worst of its incompatibilities with Windows 7. For additional information on the changes made to the software, please refer to the “What’s New” section of the SACS2014 Software User Guide.

Preloaded Data
Prior year ending balances from 2012–13 unaudited actuals (including funds, assets, debt, and lottery), Gann data, No Child Left Behind Maintenance of Effort, and first and second prior year indirect cost rate information have been preloaded into the budget software, most of which will be used for unaudited actual reporting.

In addition, to the extent possible, data from 2011–12 and 2012–13 Fund 01, Fund 17, attendance, and revenue limit unaudited actuals, as well as the California Basic Educational Data Systems (CBEDS) data, have been preloaded in the software for use in the Criteria and Standards Review form.

Validation Tables
The SACS2014 Budget software contains the most current validation tables which include the June 30, 2013 end dates for account codes and account combinations that are no longer applicable due to LCFF. Resource and object codes that are now obsolete due to the consolidation of categorical funding into the LCFF were kept open in the 2013–14 software through the second interim reporting period because the accounts were valid when local educational agencies (LEAs) adopted their 2013–14 budgets, and to allow LEAs time for cleanup. Activities in obsolete accounts should be reported in the correct resource and object codes for estimated actuals data (SACS2014 software budget release).

Charter School Beginning Balances
As in last year's software, the prior year ending fund balances from the Charter School Alternative Form have been crosswalked to the equivalent SACS fund and object codes and included with the prior year ending fund balances from the SACS submissions, to ensure consistency of the data. This will only affect charter schools that reported 2012–13 unaudited actuals in the Charter School Alternative Form and that are preparing a 2014–15 budget or 2013–14 unaudited actuals report using the SACS software.
Software User Guide and Reporting Calendars
Installing the software with the default settings will automatically copy the SACS2014 Software User Guide and financial reporting calendars to your C:\SACS2014\Calendars and Manuals subdirectory. The user guide is accessible from the software Help menu and also by pressing F1 from within most forms and processes in the software. The user guide has only been updated for the budget components; the unaudited actual and interim reporting components will be updated in theSACS2014ALL Software User Guide.

Preparation for Interim Criteria and Standards
The interim period Criteria and Standards Review form will extract applicable budget period data (July 1 single or September 8 dual adoption), if such data are available; otherwise, it will require manual input. To enable extraction of budget period data, the officially exported budget file from the SACS2014 software must be imported (Official import is recommended) into the SACS2014ALL software. Be sure to save an electronic copy of your officially exported budget data file for import into the SACS2014ALL software (the software’s official export default directory is C:\SACS2014\Official). Once the budget data have been imported into the SACS2014ALL software, the SACS2014software is no longer necessary and can be uninstalled. 
Software Bugs and Fixes
As in the past, we will communicate any detected software bugs and their fixes or workarounds to the county office SACS software contacts via e‑mail, and we will also post them to the California Department of Education Web site. We are very interested in hearing from all LEAs regarding the overall software, forms, and instructions. Comments from charter schools regarding using SACS and/or the Charter School Alternative Form would also be helpful. Send your comments and suggestions using the Change Order Form (CHG) included in the SACS software or by e-mail at sacsinfo@cde.ca.gov. The completed CHG form may either be faxed to 916-324-7141 or mailed to us at the address shown at the top of the form.

Please be sure to let the appropriate people within your agency know where they can access the software on our Web page. For assistance with the SACS software, districts should contact their county office of education, and charter schools should contact their authorizing agency. County offices may contact us by phone at 916-322-1770 or by e-mail at sacsinfo@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,



Peggy O’Guin, Administrator
Financial Accountability and Information Services

cc: County and District Superintendents
Charter School Authorizing Agencies
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