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• Variable #1 (V1): Annual Facilities-Related
Costs
Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, Article 1.5, commencing
with section 11963, outlines the definitions of classroom-based instructional
practices. Furthermore, sections 11963.5 (b) and (c) address facility
needs that are related to instructional practices that can be acquired
either through lease or purchase arrangements. These annual facilities-related
costs are equivalent to line item 2e on the SB740 Funding Determination
Form in Section III. The description of each of these line items and
appropriate application of these costs are furthered described in the "Instructions
for SB740 Funding Determination Form", under the Operations and
Facilities section, pages 4-5.
We propose to use this as a framework to define the criteria for Variable
1.
For example: a charter school's total annual facilities-related cost
as reported on Line 2e of Section III.B.2 is $10,000. Variable #1 (V1)
is therefore equivalent to $10,000.
• Variable #2 (V2): Percentage
of Facilities Space for Instruction and Related
Services
Variable 2 (V2) is equivalent to the percentage of facilities space used
for instruction and related purposes as identified in Variable 1.
For example: a charter school's total facility square footage (as submitted)
is 80% of total space dedicated to instruction and related services.
Variable 2 (V2) is therefore equivalent to 80%.
• Variable #3 (V3): Facilities
Accessibility to Students
We recommend the following criteria be used to define facilities accessibility
and student usage. This criteria is based on the varying degrees amongst
charter schools of student accessibility and usage of facilities while
protecting against potential abuses in defining facility usage. Accessibility
to the facility is a variable that is under the direct control of the
charter school without compromising the learning environment flexibility
required for tailoring learning to each student’s needs.
In developing a universally applicable facilities accessibility variable
for SB740, we must take into account the wide variety of facility purchase
and lease arrangements made by hybrid or Personalized Learning programs,
and allow for a calculation that can be fairly, equitably and accurately
applied to all situations, while at the same time, eliminate the potential
for misuse.
Taking these requirements into account, facilities accessibility can
be calculated by the total amount of time over the course of the school
year that the school’s facility is open and accessible to students
and properly supervised divided by the total amount of time the charter
school has use of the facility, (excluding Holidays, scheduled maintenance
days, mandated testing days, and teacher in-service days) as determined
by the facility lease/purchase arrangement of the school. This variable
depends on the following assumptions:
1. Properly supervised means that the charter school must have a qualified
staff member on hand for the entire time the facility is open and accessible
to students, pursuant to the definition of acceptable instruction and
related personnel as described in Section B, Part 1, of the “Instructions
for SB740 Funding Determination Form”.)
2. The variable is calculated in hours as follows:
total hours of accessibility in a school year _ (total
leased or owned days X 6 hours per day) [1]
Example one: a charter school leases a facility for two days per week
through the entire school year. The charter school facility's hours of
operation ARE 6 hours per day, two days per week:
The calculation for the numerator is as follows:
6 hours x 2 days per week x 36 weeks per school year = 432 hours facilities
accessibility
The calculation for the denominator is as follows:
2 days per week x 36 weeks per school year x 6 hrs per day = 432 hours
facilities availability
In this example, both the numerator
and denominator are 432. 432 divided by 432
= 1 or 100%. Variable 3 (V3) = 100% which says
that the charter school made its facility accessible
to students 100% of the time that the facility
was available for use by the charter school. [2]
Example two: A charter school purchases a building facility and has sole
ownership of the property. The charter school, however, chooses to open
the facility six hours per day for three days per week throughout the
course of the school year. The facility is therefore not accessible to
students for two days per week.
The calculation for the numerator is as follows:
6 hours x 3 days per week x 36 weeks per school year = 648 hours facilities
accessibility
The calculation for the denominator is as follows:
5 days per week x 36 weeks per school year x 6 hrs per day = 1080 hours
facilities availability
In this example, the numerator equals 648 and the denominator is 1080.
648 divided by 1080 = .6 or 60%. Variable 3 (V3) = 60% which says that
the charter school made its facility accessible to students 60% of the
time that the facility was available for use by the charter school.
Using this second example above for variables, consider the overall sample
formula calculation.
Applying the sample calculations from each variable above to the proposed
V1 x V2 x V3 formula, we get the following calculation:
V1 ($10,000) x V2 (80% or .8) x V3 (60% or .6) = $4,800.
Therefore, the total amount of $4,800 would be included as part of the
calculation to determine whether the charter school meets the 80% expenditures
on instruction and related services as a percentage of total revenue
criteria.
In additional to the formula proposed above, consideration should be
given to establishing parameters for what shall be considered a reasonable
facility size relative to the charter school’s student population.
The parameters may be measured by the amount of facility square footage
dedicated for instructional use per student and applied as a reasonable
use of facilities space guideline for hybrid or Personalized Learning
programs.
As mentioned previously, hybrid or Personalized Learning programs use
facilities for multiple instruction-related purposes beyond just classrooms,
and space allocation on a per student basis should be appropriately taken
into account for these additional instruction-related uses.
If a charter school’s facility, however, exceeds the recommended
parameters, then reasonable justification shall be provided to the ACCS
as to why that additional facilities space was needed. Review of that
justification can be handled in a similar manner to how the ACCS currently
handles justification for excess revenues in the SB740 funding determination
process. In other words, if the charter school required or acquired facilities
space beyond the range, and provides reasonable justification as to why,
the CDE and ACCS can recommend that the entire amount calculated in the
formula above be included in instruction-related costs. If there is not
reasonable justification for the additional facilities space, then the
CDE and ACCS can recommend that only the amount of facilities expense
up to the top end of the recommended parameters may be included in the
instruction and related services costs formula.
This proposal has been developed and approved through a collaborative
committee development process involving the following representatives,
and is being submitted jointly for ACCS approval.
Jeff Rice, APLUS+, the Association of Personalized Learning Services
Lisa Corr, Spector, Middleton, Young, and Minney
Charlie Leo, Natomas Charter School
Dave Byam, Natomas Charter School
Bob Hampton, Buckingham Charter School
Larry Pastore, Twin Ridges School District
Sandy McDivitt, Forest Charter School
Cindy Gaschler, Prosser Creek Charter School
Jodi Retzloff, Prosser Creek Charter School
David Jenkins, Guajome Park Academy Charter School
[1] Six
hours was set as a standard based upon the minimum requirement
in the Education Code that a charter high school offer
64,800 minutes per year which equates to 6 hours for
180 days.
[2] NOTE:
Variable 3 can never exceed 100% for this formula
calculation, even if the numerator is larger
than the denominator. For example, if the charter
school chose to have its facility open and
accessible to students for 8 hours each day
instead of 6 hours each day, variable 3, in
a straight division calculation
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