District/School Administration Administration
Education Laws and Regulations

603 CMR 1.00:
Charter Schools

Most Recently Amended by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education: January 25, 2005

1.08: Charter School Funding

(1) Horace Mann charter schools shall be funded through the local school district. A Horace Mann charter school shall submit a budget request annually, in accordance with the budget schedule of the local school district and no later than April 1, to the superintendent and school committee of the district in which the charter school is located. The school committee shall act on the charter school budget request in conjunction with its approval of the district's overall budget. A Horace Mann charter school's budget allocation shall be consistent with the allocation of other public schools in the district. In the case of budget reductions in the school district, a Horace Mann charter school's budget may not be reduced disproportionately to other schools in the district. The charter school board of trustees may appeal any disproportionate budget allocation to the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education, who shall determine an equitable funding level for the school and shall require the school committee to provide such funding.

(2) Each operating Commonwealth charter school shall receive tuition payments from each school district whose students attend the charter school. Such tuition payments shall be equal to the appropriate charter school tuition rate, as determined in accordance with 603 CMR 1.08 (3), multiplied by the number of students attending the charter school from the sending district in the current year. For students who attend the charter school for less than the full year, the tuition payment shall be reduced based on the number of days of enrollment. Such tuition payments shall be paid in accordance with 603 CMR 1.08 (6).

(3) For each sending district, a separate foundation budget dollar amount and charter school tuition rate shall be calculated as follows for each charter school to which the district sends students.

(a) The foundation budget dollar amount shall be calculated, based on the foundation budget factors used for the distribution of Chapter 70 aid in the current year, provided that the out-of-district special education tuition component of the foundation budget shall be excluded from the calculation. The student data for this calculation shall be the foundation enrollment information reported by the charter school as of October 1 of the prior school year. The tuition rate shall equal the foundation budget dollar amount divided by the number of students. If no students attended a particular charter school from a particular sending district in the prior year, then the sending district's average foundation budget per pupil will be used as the tuition rate.

(b) Each tuition rate shall be increased by the ratio of the sending district's current year budgeted net school spending, as reported on schedule 19 of the Department's end of year pupil and financial returns, to the sending district's total current year foundation budget. Amounts reported on schedule 19 for out-of-district special education tuition and retired teachers' health insurance shall be excluded from this calculation.

(c) The Department shall annually calculate the statewide average of district expenditures per pupil for the acquisition, construction, and improvement of school buildings, and for the acquisition of land for such buildings, and for debt service thereon, and shall add such capital component to each of the tuition rates calculated above.

(4) Any amounts appropriated under line item 7010-0030 for the purpose of per pupil facilities aid for Commonwealth charter schools shall be used to reimburse sending districts for the capital component of the tuition payments, as calculated in 603 CMR 1.08(3)(c), but shall not affect the payments due to Commonwealth charter schools.

(5) For each sending district, the sum of its tuition payment to each Commonwealth charter school, less any charter school capital facility reimbursement received pursuant to 603 CMR 1.08(4), shall be used as the district's "total charter school tuition payment" for the purposes of G.L. c.71 s.89(i) and shall be used as the district's "total charter school tuition amount" for the purposes of G.L. c.71 s.89(oo).

(6) The State Treasurer shall make quarterly payments to Commonwealth charter schools. In making such payments, the Commonwealth shall reduce each sending district's M.G.L. c. 70 allocation by an amount sufficient to meet its charter school obligations for the quarter. If there are insufficient M.G.L. c. 70 funds to meet a district's obligation, the Commonwealth shall reduce other state aid allocated to the applicable cities and towns. If there are insufficient state aid funds of any kind to meet a district's obligation, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall recommend to the Governor and legislature that a supplemental appropriation be made to pay any remaining obligation to the charter school(s).

(7) The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall notify both the Commonwealth charter school and the sending district(s) of the amount of these M.G.L. c. 70 reductions.

(8) The first quarterly payment to Commonwealth charter schools shall be based on each charter school's pre-enrollment report, filed with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education pursuant to 603 CMR 1.09(4). The remaining three quarterly payments of each fiscal year shall be based on updated enrollment reports, submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education by each charter school. Although each quarterly payment is intended to equal approximately one quarter of the projected annual amount, payments in the later quarters of each fiscal year shall include adjustments to correct any over- or under-payments in earlier quarters.

(9) In its first year of operation, a Commonwealth charter school may be paid its first quarterly payment within 45 days after the start of the Commonwealth's fiscal year. The remaining three payments shall occur at the end of the Commonwealth's second, third, and fourth fiscal quarters. After its first year of operation, a Commonwealth charter school shall receive all of its quarterly payments, including its first quarter payment, at the end of the Commonwealth's fiscal quarters. The timing of all payments to charter schools is subject to the timely enactment of the Commonwealth's annual budget.

(10) In order to facilitate the acquisition of cash-flow financing, charter schools may be eligible for advance certification of quarterly payments, issued by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Secretary of Administration and Finance. At least five days prior to the close of each fiscal quarter, the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Secretary of Administration and Finance will certify to eligible charter schools the amount the Commonwealth will pay to such schools at the end of the subsequent quarter, barring a failure of the school to continue operations or a suspension or revocation by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education of the school's charter. To be eligible for advance certification a charter school shall submit to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, prior to each quarterly certification, financial data necessary to ascertain the school's financial stability and solvency. Such data shall include an updated month-by-month cash flow statement for the current fiscal year and any other data that the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education may specify. If a charter school receiving advance certification of its quarterly payments ceases operations or if its charter is suspended, revoked, or not renewed, the actual quarterly payment by the Commonwealth to the charter school may be less than the certified amount, if a lesser amount is sufficient to satisfy any outstanding loan balances to any secured party holding a perfected security interest.

(11) Transportation. School districts shall provide transportation to charter school students on the same basis as it is provided to regular public school students in the district. In providing such transportation, districts shall accommodate the particular school year and school day of the charter school, in accordance with M.G.L. c. 71, § 89. If a district and a charter school cannot reach agreement about the service to be provided, and if the charter school finds an alternative that costs the same as or less than the average cost of transportation per student in the district, the charter school may provide its own transportation services to students eligible for transportation. In such cases, the costs for such services will be deducted from a district's M.G.L. c. 70 account on a quarterly basis as described in 603 CMR 1.08(6), based on estimated and actual expenditures for transportation.

Regulatory Authority:
603 CMR 1.00: M.G.L. c. 69, § 1B; c. 71, § 89.