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Charter Schools and the State School Fund: Making Dollars Make Sense

Mike Wiltfong| School Finance and Facilities Administrator

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Agenda - workspace

2 PM to 3:15 PM:

State School Fund Overview and Basics
Charter Rate Review
Charter School SSF Payments and Distribution Policy
How to review/forecast charter funding

Q&A Time

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Welcome & Intention Setting

Set Your Intentions

What is one thing you hope to learn in this session?
What is one thing you are looking forward to at the conference?

Oregon Department of Education

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Overview of the State School Fund

Oregon Department of Education

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2023-24 Funding Sources for Oregon’s Schools

Oregon K-12 Funding Totals $10.9 Billion

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Oregon Department of Education

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What is the State School Fund?

State School Fund (SSF) is a combination of state and local funds dedicated to the operation of K-12 public schools.

Legislature appropriates funds each biennium
ODE manages the grants and distributes the funds monthly (except June) according to formula

Oregon Department of Education

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General Purpose Grant

Carve-outs

Sub Grants

State School Fund

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State School Fund Philosophy

Equity

Student enrollment + weights to determine funding for each district
Weights designed to address student needs

Equalization

Combining State and Local funding sources to provide an equal amount of funding per student weight

Adequacy

Amount of funding available for distribution to all school districts

Oregon Department of Education

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State School Fund

Equity

Equalization

Adequacy

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Student Enrollment and Weights Over Time

2015-16 increase due to full day K implementation

2021-22 decrease due enrollment drops during COVID

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State School Fund Equalization Across Districts�General Purpose Grant Per Weighted Student �(2023-24)

Local Resources | State Resources

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State and Local Revenues as % Total Revenue�(in billions)

Oregon Department of Education

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Vanessa

Why did this change occur and why do we have the mix of state and local resources that we have today?

Pre measure 5

Local revenue primary funding source
This resulted in inequity across the state as those districts with more revenue possibilities generally had more revenue

Series of tax reform laws: Measures 5, 47 and 50.

Capped total property taxes to $5 per $1,000 of market value and Capped assessed values to their 1995 level minus 10% and capped assessed value growth to 3% a year.
Required the state to make up the funding to any district that lost funding because of the cap.
Led to development of the current funding formula
Led to a swap in the funding sources – went from 2/3 local + 1/3 state to 2/3 state + 1/3 local

What does this mean for how schools are funded today?

Majority of resources come from state
Equalization – less variance in funding from district to district
Fewer opportunities to raise additional funds locally

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SSF History & Philosophy – For Consideration

What is:

One thing you learned?
One thing you wonder?

Write down your wonderings and questions to come back to during Q&A time at the end of the session.

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Components of the �State School fund

Oregon Department of Education

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What are the components of the SSF?

Oregon Department of Education

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Disbursements/ Carve-outs

General Purpose Grant

Sub Grants

State School Fund

High Cost Disability Grant

Transportation Grant

Small High School Grant

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Disbursements �(aka: Carve-Outs)

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State School Fund Estimate

Oregon Department of Education

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State School Fund Grant

Oregon Department of Education

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Total

Formula

Revenue

General Purpose Grant

Transportation Grant

Local Revenue

Total

Formula

Revenue

State School Fund Grant

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ADMw Breakout Report

Oregon Department of Education

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ADMw Breakout Report Categories

Oregon Department of Education

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Exact counts from school district (data collections)
Calculation based on data from school districts
Calculation based on data from external partners (Census, ODHS)

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Data Collection Sources for ADM

Estimate of Membership & Revenues

(due Jan of previous SY)

2^nd Period ADM

(due Jan of current SY)

Cumulative Annual ADM

(due July following current SY)

SY = School Year

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ADMw & Extended ADMw

Oregon Department of Education

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Extended ADMw = whichever is greater

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Charter School Distributions and Policy

Oregon Department of Education

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ORS 338.155: Charter rate formula

ORS 338.155 Distributions of State School Fund amounts; grants available to charter schools. (1)(a) Students of a public charter school shall be considered to be residents of the school district in which the public charter school is located for purposes of distribution of the State School Fund.
(b) All amounts to be distributed from the State School Fund for public charter schools shall first be distributed to the school district in which the public charter school is located.
(c) For the purpose of determining the amounts to be distributed to a school district from the State School Fund for a public charter school, the district extended ADMw described in ORS 327.013 shall be calculated:
(A) Except as provided by subparagraph (B) or (C) of this paragraph, as though the students enrolled at a public charter school are students enrolled at the public schools of the school district in which the public charter school is located.
(B) By not including any portion of the ADM of the public charter school for the previous school year if the public charter school ceased to operate because of dissolution or closure or because of termination or nonrenewal of a charter.
(C) By calculating the current school year’s ADMw separately for a virtual public charter school and for the school district if the school district, without consideration of the ADM of the virtual public charter school, had a decrease in ADM or ADMw compared to the previous school year.
(2) A school district shall contractually establish, with any public charter school that is sponsored by the board of the school district, payment for provision of educational services to the public charter school’s students. The payment shall equal an amount per weighted average daily membership (ADMw) of the public charter school that is at least equal to:
(a) Eighty percent of the amount of the school district’s General Purpose Grant per ADMw as calculated under ORS 327.013 for students who are enrolled in kindergarten through grade eight; and
(b) Ninety-five percent of the amount of the school district’s General Purpose Grant per ADMw as calculated under ORS 327.013 for students who are enrolled in grades 9 through 12.

Oregon Department of Education

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Here’s why understanding the General Purpose Grant (GPG) is important – it’s a key factor in the charter rate formula. Please note the charter rate is calculated by dividing the GPG by the current year’s ADMw; not Extended ADMw. The rationale to use the current year’s ADMw is typically payments to charter schools are based on the current year’s ADMw, not Extended ADMW (the larger of either the current, or prior year’s ADMw). This is very important, as the Charter Rate will sometimes match the GPG/Extended ADMw, but the Charter Rate can be larger if the school district is in declining enrollment. The Charter Rate will never be smaller than the GPG/Extended ADMw. The reason: In a declining enrollment school district the current year’s ADMw will be smaller, so you’re dividing the GPG by a smaller number, thus the amount per share will be larger. If the ADMw is increasing year over year, you would use the current year’s ADMw, since it’s larger, thus matching the Charter Rate formula. Here’s why this is important... >>>

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ORS 338.155: Charter rate agreements

Oregon Department of Education

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Type	Count of Schools	Rate category
Curr + Charter Rate	34	Current ADMw and Charter Rate
Ext + GPG	63	Extended ADMw and General Purpose Grant per ADMw Rate
Single Charter District	18	Single Charter District
Unclear	12	Unclear terms in contract
No Contract	3	No contract on file

ORS 338.155(7) A school district and a public charter school may negotiate to establish a payment for the provision of educational services to the public charter school’s students that is more than the minimum amounts specified in subsection (2) or (3) of this section.

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Charter school distribution calculator

Oregon Department of Education

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Inputs:
Charter rate (ORS 338.155):	$ 10,422	ODE SSF Update 4/9/2025
District ADMr:	2,496.36
Adjusted District Poverty Count:	577.51
Grades:	Grade KG	Grades 1-8	Grades 9-12	IEP	Total
Grade(s) ADMr:	25.89	225.99	108.32		360.20
Grade(s) ELL ADMr:	11.93	57.32	11.00		80.25
Grade(s) Pregnant and/or Parenting ADMr:	-	-	-		0.00
ORS 338.165(3) SECC IEP Count:				35	35.00
	37.82	283.31	119.32	35.00	475.45

Outputs:
Poverty Factor:	23.13%
Grades:	Grade KG	Grades 1-8	Grades 9-12	IEP	Total
ADMr:	25.89	225.99	108.32		360.20
Poverty @.25:	1.50	13.07	6.26		20.83
ELL ADM@.50:	5.97	28.66	5.50		40.13
Teen Parent @1.0:	-	-	-		0.00
ORS 338.165(3) SECC IEP Count:				35	35.00
Total ADMw:	33.36	267.72	120.08	35	456.16

Annual Funding Results:
Annual SSF allocation (ADMw * Charter Rate):	$ 347,677.92	$ 2,790,177.84	$ 1,251,473.76	$ 364,770.00	$ 4,754,099.52
Percentage Charter School:	90%	90%	95%	0%
Charter School Annual Amount:	$ 312,910.13	$ 2,511,160.06	$ 1,188,900.07	$ -	$ 4,012,970.26
School District Annual Amount:	$ 17,383.90	$ 139,508.89	$ 31,286.84	$ 346,531.50	$ 534,711.13
Department of Education Annual Amount:	$ 17,383.90	$ 139,508.89	$ 31,286.84	$ 18,238.50	$ 206,418.13
Total Annual Funding:	$ 347,677.92	$ 2,790,177.84	$ 1,251,473.76	$ 364,770.00	$ 4,754,099.52

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OAR 581-023-0040: Charter transportation

Charter school transportation can be 100% reimbursed for a school district due to the “Patron” exception in the Pupil Transportation rules for the State School Fund.

Sub 5(l) says: Total of subsections (5)(a) through (k) of this rule (This is what is considered reimbursable)
Sub 5(m) says: Deduct (if cost is included in detail above):
(A) Payments Received from Other Districts and from Patrons for reimbursable transportation;
(B) Non-reimbursable Transportation Costs:

Sub 1(f) says: “Patron” means any individual, organization, or entity that is able to use student transportation services except for charter schools (as defined in ORS 338) or a public agency (described in ORS 339.133(4) if the school or agency reimburses school districts up to one hundred percent (100%) of incurred transportation costs pursuant to 338.145 or 339.133(4).

Oregon Department of Education

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State School Fund Timeline

Oregon Department of Education

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Timeline of One Year of SSF (in Three Years)

Previous School Year – July 1 – June 30

Current School Year – July 1 – June 30

Future/next School Year – July 1 – June 30

January: submit EMR

January: submit 2^nd Period ADM & EMR

July: submit Cumulative Annual ADM

Sept: submit Transportation Reports

Dec: submit Annual Financial Audit

March: submit High Cost Disability

Reconciliation payment for previous year

= regular monthly SSF payment

(July = 2 payments; no payment in June)

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May Reconciliation

Occurs in May the year following (for 2024-25 SY, will occur in May 2026)
Reconciles the estimated payments to the final actual data, including

Annual ADM
Updated IEP cap waiver information
Students in Poverty
Students in Foster Care and Neglected/Delinquent
Actual revenues
Actual transportation expenditures
Teachers Experience

Ensures accurate distribution of funds

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What Did You Learn?

What was the one thing you hope to learn in this session?

Did you learn that one thing?

Oregon Department of Education

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Thank you!

Vanessa Clark | State School Fund Program Manager

Vanessa.Clark@ode.oregon.gov

503-510-0175

Michael Wiltfong| School Finance and School Facilities, Administrator

Michael.Wiltfong@ode.oregon.gov

971-208-0426

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Reference Resources

School Finance Statute: ORS 327
Oregon Administrative Rules for School Finance: Division 23
State School Fund Estimates and Pay Statements webpage
SSF Grants, Expenditure Reports, and Other Funding Related Reports webpage
Check out the “Learning Resources” section of our webpage under the Estimates and Payments docs.

Oregon Department of Education

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