Division Of State Funding Charter Schools For School Year 2008-09

1. Division Of State FundingCharter Schools For School Year 2008-09 • Nora T. Rainey, Program Specialist • Phone Number (512) 463-9238 • Fax Number (512) 936-2313 • E-mail • nora.rainey@tea.state.tx.us • September 25, 2008

2. Estimate of State Aid Templateand FSP Estimate Report • Automated MS Excel template available at:http://www.tea.state.tx.us/school.finance/charter/ • Refer to Student Attendance Accounting Handbook for Student Eligibility Requirements. • Estimate average number of students expected to be enrolled during the first six-week attendance reporting period. • Always include PK students as ½ of a student. • Template is updated to the website after each tax collection update. • Charter should update during the school year with actual six-week ADA/FTE data from FSP six-week attendance reports. • Charter should periodically compare template to SOF report. • Resident District Schools – Review Method 1 and Method 2 Revenues. • M1 and M2 Variables do not indicate if Revenue 1 or Revenue 2 will be higher. • M1 and M2 Variables do not indicate the amount funded per student. • The Higher revenue Yield for a resident district can change during the school year. • State Average Schools – The state average AA, the state average ABA, the state average ASATR do not indicate a funding amount per student. • Must Run template to determine HIGHER revenue and state funding per student!

3. M1 and M2 Variable Formula • Resident District Dependent Charter Schools(In operation on or before 09/01/01) • 40% Greater of Revenue 1 or Revenue 2 • Method 1 – Resident District’s Available M&O Revenue per ADA (ASF Allocation + Level I,II,III M & O Tax Collection-Chapter 41 Recapture-Tuition Paid + Additional State Aid for Tax Relief – Reduction in Excess Revenue - Penalty if Rate is Below Compressed Rate - HS Allotment - Professional Salary Allotment)/ ADA • Revenue 1 – Charter School ADA * Method 1 • Method 2 – Resident District’s Tier I and Tier II State & Local Revenue per WADA (Tier I Total Cost - Transportation+ (DTRI * 37.42 * WADA*100) + (DTRII * 50.98 * WADA*100) + (DTRIII*31.95*WADA*100) + Additional State Aid for Tax Relief – Reduction in Excess Revenue - Penalty if Rate is Below Compressed Rate - HS Allotment - Professional Salary Allotment)/WADA • Revenue 2 – Charter School WADA * Method 2 + • 60 % State Wide Average (SA_DTRI * 37.42 * WADA*100) + (SA_DTRII * 50.98 * WADA*100) + (SA_DTRIII*31.95*WADA*100) • State Wide Average Charter Schools(In operation after 09/01/01) • 100 % State Wide Average (SA_DTRI * 37.42 * WADA*100) + (SA_DTRII * 50.98 * WADA*100) + (SA_DTRIII*31.95*WADA*100)

4. Foundation School Program Payment SystemTrack Projection Reports • Project annual ADA/FTE to be used for FSP payments. • An increase/decrease in ADA/FTE are projected forward until actual ADA and FTE figures are submitted. • Track projection report(s) should be printed after each FSP six-week attendance report is submitted. • Date and status feature of the Track Projection report is helpful for determining if latest six-week data was included on SOF report. • Submitted Only and Saved and Submitted options. • Use to update Estimate of State Aid Template with Actual ADA. • Use to Compare to PEIMS Edit Plus reports and prepare for Settle-Up.

5. State Funding Hot Topics • Hurricane Waivers • Missed instructional days • Low attendance • Revise and Resubmit FSP Calendar • Revise Calendar on Student Attendance Accounting System http://www.tea.state.tx.us/hurricane/index.html • Summer School • Summer school may occur when a charter school or school district operates multiple calendar tracks. • Summer School may occur when a charter school operates a calendar track that starts prior to the 4th Monday in August. • Summer School may occur when a charter school or school districts operates a calendar track for a material number of days in the summer months (June, July, August). • Summer school may occur when a material number of students transfer between charter schools and school districts. • Summer school may occur when a student earns more than 185 days membership statewide. Please note that if the majority of the scenarios described above pertain to your charter school, be prepared to have summer school attendance investigated. • 2007-08 Near Final settle-up –November 2008 • Optional Flexible School Day Program

6. Optional Flexible School Day Program(OFSDP) • The goal of the program is to target those students that are unable to attend school in a traditional setting. For example, the students must seek employment to support their family or must provide child care during traditional school hours. Under these circumstances, the students might only be able to attend school during evening hours or a couple of hours during the day. • It is not the intent of the OFSDP for a school district or charter school to move students out of an existing traditional setting to provide educational services under the OFSDP. • If your district is considering implementing an OFSDP, be aware that the only optional or flexible elements pertaining to the OFSDP are the hours, days of the week, or locations within the district that educational services are provided. OFSDP students must be afforded certified teachers and all other required student services that are provided to students in a traditional educational setting. • Board of Trustees required to hold Public Hearing concerning proposed OFSDP application and must review performance of OFSDP annually. • Application must be submitted 90 days before the start date of the program. • A student attending an OFSDP may be counted in attendance for purposes of funding only for the actual number of contact hours the student receives, not to exceed 1,080 hours per twelve-month period. • It is in the best interest of the charter school to serve students in the traditional program whenever possible. For example a student served for 2 hours each day in the regular program may generate a maximum of .5 ADA, where a student in the OFDSP program may only generate a maximum of .33 ADA. • Total minutes each reporting period will be converted to days to calculate ADA and FTEs. • Attendance will be reported through PEIMS 500, 505, and 510 record. • Students enrolled in the OFSDP will have an ADA eligibility code of 7. • It is acceptable to create and report both 400 and 500 records for the student if the student’s enrollment status changes from a traditional program to either the OFSDP or if the status changes back to a traditional program from the OFSDP. Note: If a student is participating in both the traditional attendance program and the OFSDP, simultaneously all attendance must be reported through the OFSDP 500 series records.

7. Foundation School Program (FSP) Payment System Due Dates • Calendar Track(s) • Opens June 15, 2008 • Due Date August 1, 2008 • Revise during the school year • Estimate Report • Opens July 15, 2008 • Due Date August 22, 2008 • Superintendent’s Six-Week Attendance Reports • Opens September 2, 2008 • Due 10 calendar days after end of reporting period for the latest track. • Staff Salary Data • Deadline is the 27th of each month for the prior month’s data • System is closed from the 28th to the end of each month. • Transportation • Applicationmust be submitted no later than July 15, 2008 prior to the beginning of the school year. • Applications arriving after July 15th will not be considered for the upcoming school year. • Route Services is due July 1, 2009 • Operations Report is Due December 1, 2009 • State Compensatory Resident District Data(Not required for new charter schools). • Charter Schools participating in NSLBP Only– February 27, 2009

8. Summary of Finance Report • Reflects attendance from the FSP track projection report or PEIMS data if Near Final or Final. • FSP Six-Week Report attendance data is usually extracted on the 5th of the month. • Updated to School Finance Website on the 15th of each month (replaces the prior month’s report) • http://www.tea.state.tx.us/school.finance/funding/sofweb7.html