Finance for Charter School Leaders August 2, 2012 “A high-quality charter school is a financially viable and choice –driven innovation that produces student achievement and stakeholder satisfaction through effective leadership (2012 SC Charter Application).”

 Provide general reminders for charter school applicants and school leaders  Review general finance topics of interest to charter school leaders  Address specific questions posed during the New Charter Developer’s Workshop Today’s session will:

SS tate – Base Funding/Categorical FF ederal – IDEA, Title I LL ocal – Donations/Grants/Gifts Funding Resources

Local District Sponsor General Fund Revenues FY 11 $111,102,345 Total District Weighted Pupils 18, Per Pupil $ 5, Inflation Factor 0.00% 0.00 Total Per Pupil$ 5, Then multiply times weighted pupils of the charter school Base Funding – Local District

Sponsor District – Total General Fund Revenue Local Revenue 1210 Ad Valorem Taxes$ 37,569, Tuition from Patrons 56, Tuition from other LEAs 25, Interest on Investments 392, Rentals 57, Refund on Prior Year Expen Receipt of Insurance Proceeds 14, Rev from Other Local Sources 500,241 Where do the Numbers Come From??

3131 Handicapped Transportation 16, Home Schooling 3, Bus Driver Salary 830, Transportation Workers Comp 59, Fringe Benefits 11,987, Retiree Benefits 1,653, Other Restricted State 1, Medicaid Match 27, EFA (Consolidated) 32,449, Other State Local Property Tax Relief 4,689, Homestead Exemption 995, Reimbursement Tax Relief 19,556,423 State Funding in General Fund

Revenue from Federal Sources 4110 Impact Act216, Other Federal Revenue 51 Total Revenue from Sponsor General Fund $111,102,345 Other Funding in General Fund

Brick and Mortar Full Base Student Cost$1, Additional Funding$3, Total Per Pupil$5, Virtual Full Base Student Cost$1, Additional Funding$1, Total Per Pupil$3, Then multiply times weighted pupils of the charter school Base Funding – State District

A WPU or weighted pupil unit is the additional “weighting” added to the base student cost to determine the additional funding students should receive based on their classification. This is the same for a charter in the State Charter district or a locally sponsored charter school. What is a WPU?

EFA Weightings Kindergarten 1.30 Primary (1.3) 1.24 Elementary(4-8) 1.00 High School (9-12) 1.25 TMH 2.04 Speech 1.90 Homebound 2.10 EH 2.04 EMH1.74 LD1.74 Hearing2.57 Visual2.57 OH2.04 Vocational1.29 Autism2.57

 When developing a charter budget it is best to use the following:  90% students in grade level you are serving  5% Speech  5% Learning Disabled  If you are serving entire special ed category, budget in categories of students you are serving What Weights to Use??

Average Daily Membership - # of days a child is enrolled in an EFA category 1. ADM of in Elementary results in a WPU figure of ADM of in Speech results in a WPU figure of ADM of 5.21 in LD results in a WPU figure of Total ADM is / Total WPU is Examples

Base Per Pupil $5, Total WPU – Charter Total Funding $1,016, For new schools, initial funding is based on projections and adjusted at the 5 th day of school. Figure is updated at the 45 th day of school and again at the 135 th day of school. How Much Funding Do I Receive? Local Sponsored

How Much Funding Do I Receive? SCPCSD Brick & Mortar Base Per Pupil $5, Total WPU – Charter Total Funding $ 876, Virtual Base Per Pupil $ 3, Total WPU – Charter Total Funding $ 611,571.40

Estimating Students Be careful in estimates of students. Don’t over inflate student counts when completing your budget. Remember – you are adjusted at the 45 th day of school and over- estimating initial student counts could result in a loss of funding

Failure to plan properly before opening!!! Why Charters Fail

Additional State Funding the school may be entitled to based on the programs they offer and the students they serve Categorical Funding

State Categorical Continued RR eading HH igh Achieving Students VV ocational PP rofessional Development AA t Risk Student Funding LL ottery NN ational Board SS tudent Health and Fitness AA id to District

 Should be based on a pro-rata share of the sponsor district.  For Example – Reading –  Sponsor district receives a total of $130, with a student population of 16,815 or $7.79 per pupil  Charter School has 187 students or an estimated allocation of $1, How Is Categorical Computed?

Documents to Help You  Funding Manual  Accounting Handbook  Audit Guide

 SECTION 59 ‑ 40 ‑ 50 (3) adhere to the same financial audits, audit procedures, and audit requirements as are applied to public schools  SECTION 59 ‑ 40 ‑ 60 (6) evidence that the plan for the charter school is economically sound, a proposed budget for the term of the charter, a description of the manner in which an annual audit of the financial and administrative operations of the charter school, including any services provided by the school district, is to be conducted Why Use these Manuals?

 Failure to submit year-end audit as required by Charter Law and SC law.  Better to submit 2 and none!  For report card purposes using financial data, of the 30 schools open during that year, 6 schools failed to provide an audit to the SCDE  Don’t wait on your sponsor to do it Financial Concerns

 Reporting Students Correctly  Reporting Teachers through PCS  Maintaining accurate financial records by required fund/function/object classifications  Example – salaries for high school teacher under Students at Risk – 338 – 114 – 100  Be Audit Ready AT ALL TIMES! Additional Issues

??? Questions

Contact Information Mellanie Jinnette Financial Systems Manager Office of Finance 1429 Senate Street Suite 303-B Columbia, SC Tel: