Charter schools in Minnesota are public schools, and are defined as being part of the State’s system of public education. They are not school sites of the school district within which they are located, although they may have been sponsored by the school district within which they are located. Although they are public schools, charter schools are exempt in law from many, but not all of the requirements governing public schools and school districts. In regard to revenue, charter schools are eligible for general education revenue, special education aid, building lease aid, start-up grants, and other revenue school districts receive.
Charter school revenue sources include:
- General Education Revenue - Charter schools receive general education revenue per pupil just as school districts do, with a few exceptions. First, a charter school receives $223 per pupil less if the charter school does not provide transportation services. (If transportation services are not provided by the charter school, the district in which the charter school is located must provide transportation to charter school students in the same way it provides transportation to students residing in or attending school in the public school district.) Basic skills and transportation sparsity revenues are calculated for the charter school, but a charter school receives the state average for all other components of general education revenue, except referendum revenue. Charter schools receive only the aid portion of referendum revenue, calculated based on the resident district of each student. Also, included in general education revenue is the state aid portion of a charter pupil’s district of residence excess levy referendum. Finally, the operating capital component of general education revenue may be used for any purpose by the charter school.
- Special Education Aid - Charter schools receive special education aid just as school districts do, and are allowed to bill back a disabled student’s resident school district for any eligible special education costs that are unreimbursed. Charter schools are not eligible to receive special education excess cost aid.
- Charter School Building Lease Aid - Charter schools with building leases qualify for aid equal to the lesser of (a) 90 percent of the approved cost of the lease, or; (b) the product of the number of pupils times their lease aid per pupil for 2002-03, or $1,200, whichever is greater.
- Charter School Startup Grants - Charter schools, for the first two years of their operation, are eligible for aid to pay for start-up costs and some operating costs. Start-up aid is the greater of $50,000 per charter school or $500 times the charter school’s enrollment for that year.
- Other aid, grants, and revenue - A charter school is eligible to receive other aids, grants, and revenue as though it were a school district, unless a property tax levy is required to obtain the money. Further, a charter school may receive money from any source for capital facilities needs.
Additional Resources
November 2005 - Study Reveals Charter Funding Outpaces Regular Public School Funding in Minnesota, Association of Metropolitan School Districts (page 2).
|
