TITLE 33

EDUCATION

CHAPTER 52

PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS

33-5208.  Public charter school financial support. Except as provided in subsection (10) of this section, from the state educational support program the state department of education shall make the following apportionment to each public charter school for each fiscal year based on attendance figures submitted in a manner and time as required by the department of education:

(1)  Per student support. Computation of support units for each public charter school shall be calculated as if it were a separate school according to the schedules in section 33-1002(4), Idaho Code, except that public charter schools with fewer than one hundred (100) secondary ADA shall use a divisor of twelve (12) and the minimum units shall not apply. No public charter school shall receive an increase in support units that exceeds the support units it received in the prior year by more than thirty (30), provided that this limitation shall not apply for the 2020-2021 school year. Funding from the state educational support program shall be equal to the total distribution factor, plus the salary-based apportionment provided in chapter 10, title 33, Idaho Code. Provided however, any public charter school that is formed by the conversion of an existing traditional public school shall be assigned divisors, pursuant to section 33-1002, Idaho Code, that are no lower than the divisors of the school district in which the traditional public school is located, for each category of pupils listed.

(2)  Special education. For each student enrolled in the public charter school who is entitled to special education services, the state and federal funds from the exceptional child education program for that student that would have been apportioned for that student to the school district in which the public charter school is located.

(3)  Alternative school support. Public charter schools may qualify under the provisions of sections 33-1002 and 33-1002C, Idaho Code, provided the public charter school meets the necessary statutory requirements, and students qualify for attendance at an alternative school as provided by rule of the state board of education.

(4)  Transportation support. Support shall be paid to the public charter school as provided in chapter 15, title 33, Idaho Code, and section 33-1006, Idaho Code. Each public charter school shall furnish the department with an enrollment count as of the first Friday in November of public charter school students who are eligible for reimbursement of transportation costs under the provisions of this subsection and who reside more than one and one-half (1 1/2) miles from the school. The state department of education is authorized to include in the annual appropriation to the charter school sixty percent (60%) of the estimated transportation cost. The final appropriation payment in July shall reflect reimbursements of actual costs pursuant to section 33-1006, Idaho Code. To be eligible for state reimbursement under the provisions of section 33-1006, Idaho Code, the student to be transported must reside within the public charter school’s primary attendance area and must meet at least one (1) of the following two (2) criteria:

(a)  The student resides within the school district in which the public charter school is physically located; or

(b)  The student resides within fifteen (15) miles of the public charter school, by road.

The limitations placed by this subsection on the reimbursement of transportation costs for certain students shall not apply to public virtual schools.

(5)  Facilities funds. The state department of education shall distribute facilities funds to public charter schools for each enrolled student in which a majority of the student’s instruction is received at a facility that is owned or leased by the public charter school. Such funds shall be used to defray the purchase, fee, loan or lease costs associated with payments for real property used by the students or employees of the public charter school for educational or administrative purposes. Such funds shall be distributed from the moneys appropriated to the educational support program and shall be calculated as a percentage of the statewide average amount of bond and plant facility funds levied per student by Idaho school districts, as follows:

Fiscal Year 2014	Twenty Percent (20%)
Fiscal Year 2015	Thirty Percent (30%)

For fiscal year 2016 and each fiscal year thereafter, this percentage shall increase by ten percent (10%) each time the total appropriation of state funds for the educational support program increases by three percent (3%) or more over the prior fiscal year. Provided however, that the percentage shall be no greater than fifty percent (50%).

For those public charter schools that do not receive facilities funds for all enrolled students, the school may submit to the state department of education a reimbursement claim for any costs for which facilities funds may be used. The state department of education shall reduce such claim by the greater of fifty percent (50%) or the percentage of the school’s enrolled students for which the school receives facilities funds and shall pay the balance. Provided however, that the total reimbursements paid to a public charter school, in combination with any facilities stipend received by the school, shall not exceed the amount of facilities funds that would have been received by the school had the school received facilities funds for all enrolled students. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "real property" shall be used as defined in section 63-201, Idaho Code.

(6)  Payment schedule. The state department of education is authorized to make an advance payment of twenty-five percent (25%) of a public charter school’s estimated annual apportionment for its first year of operation, and each year thereafter, provided the public charter school is serving more grades or at least ten percent (10%) more classes than the previous year, to assist the school with initial start-up costs or payroll obligations. For a public charter school entering its second or greater year of operations, the state department of education may require documentation establishing the need for such an advance payment, including comparative class schedules and proof of a commensurate increase in the number of employees.

(a)  For a public charter school to receive the advance payment, the school shall submit its anticipated fall membership for each grade level to the state department of education by June 1.

(b)  Using the figures provided by the public charter school, the state department of education shall determine an estimated annual apportionment from which the amount of the advance payment shall be calculated. Advance payment shall be made to the school on or after July 1 but no later than July 31.

(c)  All subsequent payments, taking into account the onetime advance payment made for the first year of operation, shall be made to the public charter school in the same manner as other traditional public schools in accordance with the provisions of section 33-1009, Idaho Code.

A public charter school shall comply with all applicable fiscal requirements of law, except that the following provisions shall not be applicable to public charter schools: that portion of section 33-1004, Idaho Code, relating to reduction of the administrative and instructional staff allowance and the pupil service staff allowance when there is a discrepancy between the number allowed and the number actually employed; and section 33-1004E, Idaho Code, for calculation of district staff indices.

(7)  Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit any private person or organization from providing funding or other financial assistance to the establishment or operation of a public charter school.

(8)  Each public charter school shall pay an authorizer fee to its authorized chartering entity, to defray the actual documented cost of monitoring, evaluation and oversight, which, in the case of public charter schools authorized by the public charter school commission, shall include each school’s proportional fee share of moneys appropriated from the public charter school authorizers fund to the public charter school commission, plus fifteen percent (15%). Provided however, that each public charter school’s board of directors may direct up to ten percent (10%) of the calculated fee to pay membership fees to an organization or association that provides technical assistance, training and advocacy for Idaho public charter schools. Unless the authorized chartering entity declines payment, such fee shall be paid by March 15 of each fiscal year and shall not exceed the greater of:

(a)  All state funds distributed to public schools on a support unit basis for the prior fiscal year, divided by the statewide number of public school students in average daily attendance in the first reporting period in the prior fiscal year; or

(b)  The lesser of:

(i)   The result of the calculation in paragraph (a) of this subsection, multiplied by four (4); or

(ii)  One and one-half percent (1.5%) of the result of the calculation in paragraph (a) of this subsection, multiplied by the public charter school’s average daily attendance in the first reporting period in the current fiscal year.

(9)  Nothing in this chapter shall prevent a public charter school from applying for federal grant moneys or for career technical education funding of any source for any reason including, but not limited to, the instructional delivery method.

(10)  (a) Each student in attendance at a public virtual school shall be funded based upon either the actual hours of attendance in the public virtual school on a flexible schedule, or the percentage of coursework completed, whichever is more advantageous to the school, up to the maximum of one (1) full-time equivalent student.

(b)  All federal educational funds shall be administered and distributed to public charter schools, including public virtual schools, that have been designated as a local education agency (LEA), as provided in section 33-5203(8), Idaho Code.

(11) Nothing in this section prohibits separate face-to-face learning activities or services. In order to be eligible for career technical education essential components funding, virtual schools may be required to offer some face-to-face instruction in order to meet industry standards, licensing requirements, work-based learning requirements, or other requirements set forth by the board.

(12) The provisions of section 33-1021, Idaho Code, shall apply to public charter schools provided for in this chapter.

History:

[33-5208, added 1998, ch. 92, sec. 1, p. 335; am. 1999, ch. 244, sec. 5, p. 628; am. 2001, ch. 114, sec. 1, p. 405; am. 2002, ch. 109, sec. 1, p. 307; am. 2004, ch. 370, sec. 3, p. 1097; am. 2004, ch. 374, sec. 1, p. 1116; am. 2005, ch. 255, sec. 6, p. 783; am. 2005, ch. 376, sec. 8, p. 1212; am. 2006, 1st Ex. Sess., ch. 1, sec. 13, p. 55; am. 2007, ch. 350, sec. 7, p. 1031; am. 2009, ch. 284, sec. 3, p. 855; am. 2011, ch. 310, sec. 2, p. 879; am. 2012, ch. 188, sec. 5, p. 503; am. 2013, ch. 342, sec. 2, p. 903; am. 2013, ch. 343, sec. 9, p. 920; am. 2015, ch. 14, sec. 1, p. 18; am. 2015, ch. 305, sec. 1, p. 1204; am. 2016, ch. 271, sec. 9, p. 743; am. 2019, ch. 298, sec. 6, p. 885; am. 2021, ch. 127, sec. 1, p. 369; am. 2021, ch. 247, sec. 1, p. 768.]