State agency seeks $1.79M charter lease contingency as charter enrollment and openings accelerate
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Summary
Agency explained statutory changes have increased uncertainty for charter school lease payments and requested a $1,792,976 contingency fund (one‑time) to cover new openings and rapid ADM changes; charter lease payments currently estimated at $6,332,928 and modular leases are included in the request.
The committee heard that recent changes in state law have made charter school lease payments less predictable and the agency recommended a charter school contingency fund to reduce the need for repeated supplemental requests.
Miss Carlson explained the statutory context: charter lease payments are made to districts and flow through to charter operators; the earlier three‑year in‑operation requirement for lease payments was removed, a cap on authorized charter schools was eliminated, and the district‑space exception was taken away. Those changes mean the state must pay leases for new charter schools immediately and may face multiple new applications in a short window. Carlson said the agency cannot always predict how many charters will open or what their enrollment (ADM) will be, so lease payments are volatile.
To address that uncertainty the agency proposed a non‑reverting charter school contingency fund modeled on the Land Opportunity Fund, to hold money that the commission could approve for lease payments as needed. The agency calculated average lease costs and proposed asking enough money to cover two new charters as a planning assumption. Carlson told the committee the requested contingency amount is $1,792,976 from the School Foundation Fund; she said the governor approved that amount as a one‑time request.
Carlson also reviewed current charter lease totals ($6,332,928) and modular lease line items (single modular per location at $17,375 each; two modulars at Saddle Ridge 1). Committee members asked whether the contingency covers only new charters or existing lease volatility; Carlson replied it covers both and that the agency would report uses monthly to the select committee and the commission would approve distributions.
The committee asked for more granular lease‑rate data and community comparables; staff said they use ANI and local checks to set lease assumptions and can provide additional details on available district major‑maintenance and routine‑maintenance buckets that might offset some needs.