§ 17:3995 — Charter school funding

§3995. Charter school funding
A.(1) For the purpose of funding, a Type 1, Type 3, Type 3B not acting as its own
local education agency, and Type 4 charter school shall be considered an approved public
school of the local school board entering into the charter agreement. Type 2 charter schools
and a Type 3B charter school acting as its own local education agency shall receive a per
pupil amount each year authorized by the state board each year as provided in the approved
minimum foundation program formula. The per pupil amount provided to a Type 1, 2, 3, 3B,
or 4 charter school shall be computed annually and shall be equal to the per pupil amount
provided through the minimum foundation program formula, determined by the allocation
weights in the formula based upon student characteristics or needs, received by the school
district in which the student resides from the following sources based on the district's
membership count used in the minimum foundation program formula:
(a) The state-funded per pupil allocation, based upon the weighted student
membership count, received by the district pursuant to the most recent legislatively approved
minimum foundation program formula, including all levels and allocation weights based
upon student characteristics or needs as provided in the formula except any supplementary
allocations for specific purposes. Supplementary allocations for specific purposes shall be
provided to charter schools based solely on the funds generated by the charter school within
each specific allocation.
(b)(i) Local revenues received during the prior year by the school district from the
following sources:
(aa) Sales and use taxes, less any tax collection fee paid by the school district.
(bb) Ad valorem taxes, less any tax collection fee paid by the school district.
(cc) Earnings from sixteenth section lands owned by the school district.
(ii) For the purposes of this Subparagraph, local revenues shall exclude any portion
which has been specifically dedicated by the legislature or by voter approval to capital outlay
or debt service.
(iii) For the purposes of this Subparagraph, local revenues of the Orleans Parish
School Board also shall exclude the amounts set forth in R.S. 17:1990(C)(2)(a)(iii) until such
provisions relative to the specified amounts expire.
(iv) For the purposes of this Subparagraph, local revenues of a school board also
shall exclude the amount deposited into the fund created by R.S. 17:100.12(B).
(c) The provisions of this Paragraph permitting the calculation of the per pupil
amount to be provided to a Type 1, 2, 3, 3B, or 4 charter school to exclude any portion of
local revenues specifically dedicated by the legislature or by voter approval to capital outlay
or debt service, shall be applicable only to a charter school housed in a facility or facilities
provided by the district in which the charter school is located.
(2)(a) Initial allocation of the per pupil amount required in Paragraph (1) of this
Subsection shall be based on estimates provided by the state Department of Education using
the most recent projected prior year local revenue data and projected pupil counts available.
Allocations shall be adjusted during the year to reflect actual pupil counts and actual prior
year local revenue collections.
(b) In order to provide for adjustments in allocations made to Type 2 charter schools
as a result of changes in enrollment, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
may provide annually for a February fifteenth pupil membership count to reflect any changes
in pupil enrollment that may occur after October first of each year. Any allocation
adjustment made pursuant to this Subparagraph shall not be retroactive and shall be
applicable for the period from March first through the end of the school year. The provisions
of this Subparagraph relative to an allocation adjustment shall not be applicable to any Type
2 charter school that has had an increase or decrease in student enrollment of five percent or
less in any school year for which the February fifteenth membership count occurs.
(3) Notwithstanding Paragraph (1) of this Subsection and unless otherwise provided
for in the approved minimum foundation program formula:
(a) Beginning July 1, 2016, for a district with one or more Type 3B charter schools
in a parish that contains a municipality with a population of three hundred thousand or more
persons according to the latest federal decennial census, the total amount of minimum
foundation program formula funds allocated to the local school board and to Type 1, 3, 3B,
4, and 5 charter schools that are located within the district shall be allocated using a district-level computation based on student characteristics or needs as determined by the state board.
The state Department of Education shall facilitate a collaborative process that includes
representatives from the Recovery School District, the Louisiana Association of Public
Charter Schools, any affected local school board and any organization representing its
authorized charter schools, and advocates for students with disabilities in the development
of the district-level allocation policy that shall take effect on July 1, 2016.
(b) The local school board shall adopt a policy that establishes a process to determine
the district-level funding allocation to be effective beginning July 1, 2017, and as revised in
subsequent years as appropriate, based upon student characteristics or needs to distribute the
total amount of minimum foundation program formula funds allocated to the local school
board and to Type 1, 3, 3B, 4, and 5 charter schools that are located within the geographic
boundaries of the local school system.
(4)(a)(i) The state board and a local school board may annually charge each charter
school they authorize a fee in an amount equal to two percent of the total per pupil amount
as defined by this Subsection that is received by a charter school for administrative overhead
costs incurred by the chartering authority for considering the charter application and any
amendment thereto, providing monitoring and oversight of the school, collecting and
analyzing data of the school, and for reporting on school performance. Such fee amount
shall be withheld from the per pupil amount in monthly increments and shall not be
applicable to any federal money or grants received by the charter school. Administrative
overhead costs shall not include any cost incurred by the chartering authority to provide
purchased services to the charter school. As provided by Subparagraph (b) of this Paragraph,
a chartering authority or the Recovery School District, if applicable, may provide other
services for a charter school and charge the actual cost of providing such services, but no
such arrangement shall be required as a condition for authorizing the charter school.
(ii) The state Department of Education may withhold and retain from state funds
otherwise allocated to a local public school system through the minimum foundation
program formula an amount equal to one quarter of one percent of the fee amount charged
to a Type 3B charter school acting as its own local education agency pursuant to Item (i) of
this Subparagraph, or a Type 1, 3, or 4 charter school acting as its own education agency
pursuant to R.S. 17:10.7.1, for administrative costs incurred by the department for providing
financial oversight and monitoring of such charter schools.
(b) A charter school may contract with the chartering authority, or with the Recovery
School District for a Type 5 charter school, for the direct purchase of specific services in
addition to those included in administrative overhead costs, including but not limited to food
services, special education services, transportation services, custodial and maintenance
services, media services, technology services, library services, health services, and health
benefits for active and retired employees. Such services shall be provided to the charter
school at the actual costs incurred by the chartering authority or the Recovery School District
as applicable. The amount paid by a charter school for such purchased services shall be in
accordance with a written agreement entered into for this purpose by the charter school and
the chartering authority or the Recovery School District as applicable. Such agreement shall
be negotiated and executed prior to the beginning of each school year. Absent such an
agreement as provided by this Subparagraph, the chartering authority or, if applicable, the
Recovery School District shall have no authority to withhold from the charter school any
funds relative to providing such services.
(c) At least thirty days prior to the beginning of each fiscal year, each charter school
shall be provided by its chartering authority with a projected budget detailing anticipated
administrative overhead costs and planned uses for fees charged for such costs. By not later
than ninety days following the end of each fiscal year, each charter school shall be provided
by its chartering authority an itemized accounting of all administrative overhead costs.
Additionally, by not later than ninety days following the end of each fiscal year, each charter
school shall be provided by its chartering authority or the Recovery School District, if
applicable, an itemized accounting of the actual cost of each purchased service provided to
the charter school.
(5) Within fifteen days of the receipt of any state, local, or other funding to which
the charter school is entitled or which came as a result of students enrolled in the charter
school, the chartering authority shall ensure that those funds are available for use by such
charter schools.
(6)(a) A Type 2 school which has been renewed as provided in R.S. 17:3992(A)
annually shall be funded in the full amount calculated as provided for in Paragraph (1) of this
Subsection. Such full funding shall be provided as a priority prior to the allocation of state
funding to any other charter school funded by the state.
(b) The full funding required in this Subsection shall include in any calculation all
pupils enrolled pursuant to any authority of a renewed Type 2 charter to increase the
enrollment of such school whether caused by increasing the number of pupils in authorized
grades or by adding sequential grades pursuant to the school's charter or other authority
granted by the state board.
B. For each pupil enrolled in a charter school who is entitled to special education
services, any state special education funding beyond that provided in the minimum
foundation program and any federal funds for special education for that pupil that would
have been allocated for that pupil shall be allocated to the charter school which the pupil
attends.
C. Any approved charter school shall be eligible for any other federal, restricted
state, and unrestricted state funding for which the school or its pupils qualify. Each charter
school shall receive at a minimum their per pupil share for any state or federal grant program
such as any funding provided for technology, teacher supplies, kindergarten through third
grade reading and mathematics, summer school, and other remediation funding, as well as
any other state or federal grant program where funding is distributed on a per pupil basis and
a charter school is eligible to receive the funding under the terms of the grant. The charter
school shall comply with the terms of the grant. The chartering authority shall ensure that
such funds are made available for use by any charter school no less than fifteen days after the
chartering authority receives such funding from the state or the federal government, provided
the chartering authority applied for such funding directly. A charter school may apply for
and receive funding directly from the state or federal government.
D. Any approved charter school may solicit, accept, and administer donations or any
other financial assistance in the form of money, grants, property, loans, or personal services
for educational purposes from any public or private person, corporation, or agency and
comply with rules and regulations governing grants from the federal government or from any
other person or agency, which are not in contravention of the constitution and any other law.
E. If any charter school fails to open and serve pupils or closes for any reason, the
charter school shall refund all equipment and cash on hand which can be attributed to state
or local funding to the state or to the local school district as appropriate.
F. Every pupil enrolled in a charter school shall be counted in the school's total pupil
count for purposes of funding including each pupil who is pursuing a high school diploma
or participating in a pre-general education development skills program as defined by policy
adopted by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. No child enrolled in
a prekindergarten program offered by a charter school shall be counted for purposes of
funding pursuant to the provisions of Subsection A of this Section unless such funding is
specifically provided for such purpose. However, such school shall be eligible for any other
funding that may become available pursuant to the provisions of Subsection C of this Section
for children enrolled in prekindergarten programs.
G. In addition to any other funds received, each charter school created as a new
school rather than as a conversion school shall receive for each student based on average
daily membership in the charter school for the first five years of its existence an amount
equaling the average per student budgeted amount for each of those five years by the district
in which the charter school is located for facility acquisition and construction services. The
provisions of this Subsection shall apply only if and to the extent that funds are appropriated
therefor by the legislature.
H. Any Type 2 or 5 charter school shall be considered the local education agency for
funding purposes and statutory definitions pursuant to rules adopted by the state board.
I. The local school board shall remain the local education agency for any Type 1, 3,
or 4 charter school, unless the charter school is authorized to act as its own local education
agency, pursuant to R.S. 17:10.7.1.
J. A Type 5 charter school shall have the option to remain its own local education
agency for funding purposes and statutory definitions upon conversion to a Type 3B charter
school pursuant to rules adopted by the state board. Pursuant to this Subsection, the state
board shall adopt rules for a Type 3B charter school considered its own local education
agency and such rules shall:
(1) Provide for the delineation of financial and programmatic obligations of the
charter school related to the receipt of funds as a local education agency.
(2) Authorize the state superintendent of education to rescind the local education
agency status of a charter school should the charter school fail to meet the financial and
programmatic obligations approved by the state board pursuant to this Subsection.
K. The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall promulgate rules
in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act regarding a charter school acting as its
own local education agency, pursuant to R.S. 17:10.7.1. Such rules shall:
(1) Delineate the financial and programmatic obligations of the charter school as
related to the receipt of public funds.
(2) Authorize the state superintendent of education to rescind a charter school's
authority to act as its own local education agency if the school fails to meet the financial and
programmatic obligations established by the board.

Legislative History

Acts 1997, No. 477, §1, eff. June 30, 1997; Acts 1999, No. 757, §1, eff. July 2, 1999; Acts 1999, No. 1210, §1; Acts 2001, No. 988, §1, eff. June 27, 2001; Acts 2001, No. 991, §1, eff. June 27, 2001; Acts 2001, No. 1076, §1, eff. June 28, 2001; Acts 2003, No. 260, §1; Acts 2004, No. 735, §1; Acts 2005, No. 305, §1; Acts 2008, No. 202, §1, eff. June 13, 2008; Acts 2008, No. 744, §1, eff. July 6, 2008; Acts 2009, No. 292, §1, eff. July 1, 2009; Acts 2010, No. 370, §§1, 2, eff. July 1, 2010; Acts 2010, No. 861, §8; Acts 2012, No. 2, §1; Acts 2012, No. 811, §5, eff. July 1, 2012; Acts 2013, No. 330, §1; Acts 2015, No. 467, §1, eff. July 1, 2015; Acts 2016, No. 91, §1, eff. May 12, 2016; Acts 2016, No. 497, §1, eff. June 14, 2016; Acts 2017, No. 97, §1; Acts 2019, No. 430, §1.