Month: May 2020

As charter schools across the country confront the challenges related to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the U.S. Department of Education pulled together a list of COVID-19 resources that can guide your school’s response. We’ve provided the list of resources below. You’ll also find resources for parents seeking educational activities for their children too.

CDC Guidelines for Schools
Additional Resources for Elementary and Secondary Schools
Additional Resources
At-Home Activities

Please note that the materials presented below concerning resources available on a number of Federal agencies’ websites are being provided for your convenience as a potential resource for parents, students, schools, teachers, and other educators to use during this challenging time. They were not developed by the U.S. Department of Education, and we do not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this information. Furthermore, the inclusion of any hyperlinks and the content presented is not intended to convey their relative importance, nor is it intended to endorse any views expressed or products or services offered. The Department does not control, direct, or encourage any particular curriculum or the information related to the curriculum. The use of materials or information by a school or educator is strictly a State and local matter.

Department of Defense: Learn about careers in STEM fields

Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics: Kids’ Zone

Department of Energy: Games and Activities; Virtual Field Trips to National Energy Labs

Environmental Protection Agency: Games, Quizzes, and Videos about the Environment

The Library of Congress: Presentations and Activities to Help Students Learn about History

NASA: Interactive Lessons about Space, Earth, Solar System and Universe;  Lessons from Astronauts about Living in Space;  STEM Activities for Students of All Ages

The Kennedy Center:  Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems; Tour the Kennedy Center with The Pigeon

The Smithsonian: Free Smithsonian STEM Games and Simulations; Meet the Animals of the National Zoo; 3D Exhibits and Virtual Tours; Smithsonian Magazine Ten Museums You Can Virtually Visit; The Museum of Natural History Virtual Tour; Digital Smithsonian American Art Museum; Distance Learning Resources

NOAA: Use Real-Time Ocean Data to Explore the Environment

USGS: Learn from Home About Physical science, Geography and Maps

Schools should continue promoting everyday disease prevention strategies:
  • If you are sick, stay home from school.
  • Avoid close contact with those who are already sick.
  • Cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing with a tissue or the crook of your arm.
  • Wash your hands often with soap and water.
  • Avoid touching eyes, nose, or mouth.
  • Consult this web page for further guidance from the U.S. Department of Education.

Schools can share relevant CDC fact sheets to help students, families, and staff understand COVID-19 along with steps they can take to protect themselves:

The Department of Education regularly updates its list of resources and information. They’ve also encouraged school leaders to send questions on which the Department can be helpful to the following email address: COVID-19@ed.gov.

California State Capitol

Last week, Governor Gavin Newsom presented his May Revision to the January budget. As expected, state revenues are significantly down, and almost every program will have funding cuts. Given California’s K-12 education system receives a large part of the budget’s funding, it is also receiving a large portion of the cuts. Governor Newsom stated that he would roll back some of the cuts if the Federal Government provides more fiscal relief to the states.

For those who can remember 2008 and the Great Recession, it appears there will be deferrals and reduced per-pupil funding. Below are the highlights of the May Revision, which the California Assembly and Senate Budget Subcommittees will hear over the new two weeks. It is unclear whether the Budget Conference Committee will meet or both houses will adopt the Governor’s budget, but the legislature will pass the budget by June 15th.

The budget provides a Proposition 98 General Fund level of $52.35 billion in 2019-20, a decrease of $3.54 billion under the 2019-20 Budget Act Proposition 98 guarantee estimate. It also provides a Proposition 98 General Fund level of $44.87 billion in 2020-21, a decrease of $11 billion from the 2019-20 Budget Act for schools and community colleges.

Here are the budget specifics:

  • Proposes total K-12 funding from all sources at $99.7 Billion in the Budget Year.
  • Projects Proposition 98 ongoing per-pupil spending to be $10,632 in 2020-21 and $11,585 in 19-20 a decrease of $1,375 per student and $422 per student, respectively, compared to the 2019-20 Budget Act.
  • Defers $1.9 billion in Proposition 98 funding in the 2019-20 budget year to the 2020-21 budget year, and defers an ongoing total of $5.3 billion in financing for the 2020-21 budget year to the 2021-22 budget year.
  • Proposes a payback schedule for Proposition 98 funding for the difference between Test 1 and Test 2 funding levels.
  • Proposes $4.4 Billion in discretionary federal funds for one-time COVID closure impacts on schools and student learning.
  • Suspends the 2.31% Statutory COLA
  • Eliminates the $589 million Education Protection Act fund to mitigate school funding cuts.
  • Provides $2.3 billion ($1 billion in Budget Year) funding relief for Local Education Agency (LEA) statutory contributions to the STRS and PERS retirement systems.
  • Proposes a reduction of $6.5 billion in Proposition 98 funding for the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), reflecting a 10% reduction.*
  • Provides $645 million Proposition 98 funding for special education services and school readiness supports.
  • Proposes $352.9 million in cuts to K-12 categorical programs*
  • Contains $164.7 million one-time state-level CARES Act investments to address  COVID education impacts, including:
    • $100 million to County Offices of Education for student wellness & health initiatives
    • $63.2 million for educator training and professional development o $1.5 million for state agency operational needs
  • Contains over $23 million in federal IDEA funds for teacher scholarships, mediation costs, and various policy studies and workgroups.
  • Maintains a few January Budget new one-time proposals:
    • $53 million for literacy grants (related to a court settlement)
    • $15 million for CalNEW (refugee student support)
    • $4.2 million for the SACS replacement project, and
    • $4 million for dyslexia training/research and statewide conference.
  • Proposes to increase LEA inter-fund borrowing allowances
  • Proposes to allow the sale of surplus LEA property for one-time spending purposes.
  • Allows special education telehealth practices.
  • Moves the Transitional Kindergarten credential deadline to August 2021.
  • Caps the age that particular charter school programs can generate ADA at 26.

For charter school leaders, the news isn’t heartwarming: States are now collectively projecting spending cuts over the next few years in the neighborhood of $500 billion. 

As Daerel Bernette II from EdWeek put it, “Almost half of the nation’s 13,000 school districts may be forced to make the deepest cuts to education spending in a generation—slashing programs and laying off hundreds of thousands of administrators, teachers and other staff—to fend off financial collapse brought on by the coronavirus.”

Reduced tax revenues across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic will potentially result in deferrals, delays, and reductions in state payments for charter schools. And states more reliant on tax revenues not connected to property taxes may face even starker choices as taxes from other sources—sales tax as people spend less, tourism taxes as people travel less—dry up.

As charter leaders navigate the next few months, one recent guide post came from Nathan Barrett, the Senior Director of Research and Evaluation at National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. In his brief entitled COVID And Education Finance: Acting During the Impending Fiscal Downturn, he noted…

“The uncertainty and impending fiscal challenges will require careful planning and execution. They will also require the ability to make thoughtful but quick course corrections should fiscal realities fail to meet projections. While all schools will be affected, charter schools are of interest because of their unique position in public education, the policies under which they operate, and the fact that they disproportionally serve students who are potentially at greater risk of disruptions because of the pandemic.”

As we’ve done throughout this crisis, Charter School Capital wants to ensure charter school leaders have the best advice possible. And tomorrow, we will continue that work by welcoming Mr. Barrett from National Alliance for an hour-long webinar to help leaders prepare a charter school safety net.

Joining him will be Ricardo Mireles, Executive Director of the Los Angeles-based charter school Academia Avance, who navigated his charter school through the Great Recession. Our VP of Business Services, Tricia Blum, will host Mr. Mireles and Mr. Barrett. 

Watch this recorded webinar now!

WATCH NOW

As charter school leaders look towards the future and this coming fall, there has never been more important to time to begin thinking about their enrollment. Reduced tax revenues across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic will potentially result in deferrals, delays, and reductions in state payments for charter schools.

Amongst that uncertainty, school leaders must start crafting their plans for and securing tools to enable next year’s enrollment right now. To help leaders do just that, here are 5 tips for securing your school’s enrollment for next year.

Your Best Students Are Your Current Students

As the saying goes, “your best customers are your current customers.” Before you even start any promotional efforts for new students, focus on your current students. By delivering the best possible educational experience to your students and parents, they need not look at other education options.

Additionally, enable parents and students to provide feedback for next year, so that you can address their concerns. We have no doubt that both students and parents are feeling just as uncertain about what next year’s school life might look like and how they can be prepared for those changes. Seek those questions and provide easy ways for parents/students to access those answers via your website, social media profiles, email, or text/SMS campaigns.

Begin Outreach to New and Prospective Students Next

Once your school leaders have a good understanding of potential enrollment gaps for next year, start crafting your marketing plan to drive awareness and interest in your school.

You can increase traffic to your website and social media channels by optimizing them for search engines and local hashtags/keywords. Raise awareness of your school through targeted ads on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Nurture prospective parents and students leveraging email and text-message campaigns, along with direct mail.

If you’re looking for help with your enrollment marketing plans, our team at Charter School Capital has done that for schools all over the country. You can find out more here.

Create Easy-to-Understand Enrollment and Lottery Guidelines

Parents and students need clear, easy-to-understand enrollment and lottery guidelines. Ensure your website provides all the information and deadlines required to enter your lottery, as well enrollment preferences for your school (i.e., preferences are given to returning students, siblings of current students, and students living the same community school district).

Using simple tools like AddEvent.com, your team can quickly help parents add dates and deadlines to their calendars.

Ensure Your Lottery System Is Best-in-Class

Take the hassle out of your lottery system by leveraging a best-in-class lottery platform like Lotterease.  It’s easy to use, manages weighted lotteries, including siblings and twins, allows parents to add all the data required, generates both selected and waiting lists based on the cutoff criteria, and waiting lists for each grade. It has built-in security and is fully auditable. Even better, it provides granular level notification controls so that parents and your staff are up-to-date and informed.

Enable Parents and Teachers with Tools and Content

Parents, teachers, and staff will often be your best advocates. Arm them with content and visuals they can use on their social media profiles, and develop one-pagers they can provide to friends, family, and their neighborhoods. Canva is our favorite free tool for helping schools make this happen.