Charter School Business Manager's Network Meeting

Charter school business managers from across Colorado met to discuss a number of pressing issues, including how they would deal with impending budget cuts. Here's a summary of the day's meeting.

* The stimulus money (federal ARRA and EduJobs) goes away this year.

* The teacher salary results (63 of ~160 responding):

a. Highest range of full-time teacher salaries was in the $25,000 to $43,999 category.

b. Lowest full-time teacher mean was $30,000. Lowest range from $13,650 to $40,000.

c. Highest full-time teacher $47,000 mean. Lowest range from $30,000 to $76,688.

d. There were no trends for more mature charter schools or for charter school size.

e. Next teacher salary survey should be percentage of district salary. Plus, survey what benefits schools do pay for.

f. The salary survey will be open through the end of next week (April 1).

* School Fees

a. Should be on fee sheet if the fee is mandatory or optional and if it is optional, what the student will not receive if the fee is not paid.

b. No fees are required (may opt out of any) and the student will not be penalized or not able to graduate or advance to the next grade level.

* Security Systems

a. Some volunteer security systems include instant background checks that identify people with restrictions from accessing a school building.

b. A couple of the schools presenting cover the cost of background checks on their volunteers. Some schools have the parents/volunteers.

* Legislative Update

a. HB 1055: Charter school access to available school property. Will be heard in State Affairs on Wednesday.

b. HB 1089: Grant Opportunities. Headed to the Governor’s desk for signature. Allows charter schools to use the collaborative law to apply for federal competitive grants.

c. School Food Authorities. Will be added to Rep. Massey’s omnibus bill (HB 1277).

d. Timely Access to School Data. Will also be added to Massey’s bill. Data should be distributed to charter schools within two weeks of the district receiving it.

e. HB 1253: Charter School and At-risk Funding. Bill was killed.

f. Change BEST formula. Change the matching fund formula for charter schools.

g. Next year’s charter school capital construction will be around $83 per student (as projected by the JBC).

h. SB 188: Moral obligation bill. Previous version died in the Senate (SB 132), but was reintroduced.

i. HB 1277: Massey’s omnibus bill, which includes changes to online school reporting, overage and under credit student funding changes and School Food Authorities.

j. Senator Bacon is holding a public hearing on public education issues with a goal of generating media attention. Representatives from charter schools are invited to speak at the hearing.

Why Attending This Friday's Finance Seminar is Important

Every year the Colorado charter school community gets together for a Finance Seminar designed for charter school board members, business managers and administrators. This year's Finance Seminar might be one of the best!

Here are a few highlights for someone thinking about attending:

• A state-level panel discussing the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (f.k.a. No Child Left Behind).
• A panel discussing the use of Standard 11: Finance for charter schools from the perspective of the CSSI team member, business manager and administrator.
• The legal aspects to the Financial Transparency Act and what's required of charter schools.
• Fundraising for charter schools.
• Lessons learned from one charter school's audit.
• How to start a charter school business office.
• An update on the HB 1412 State Advisory Committee established to recommend charter school and charter school authorizer standards.
• Internet safety for schools.
• Property and liability insurance tips for charter schools.
• Information on the BEST (Building Excellent Schools Today) grant.

Too often charter school leaders don't even know what they don't know to ask! Attending a seminar like Friday's on finance ensures leaders are aware of the current issues and where to get specific information. It's also a great time to network with other people in the same role such as board Treasurer or business manager.

Register for the Finance Seminar at: http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdechart/event_fin_bmn.htm

Charter school business managers meet throughout the school year every other month. The same link works to register for those meetings.