Dear County Superintendents of Schools:

Fourth Quarter Apportionment for the Education Protection Account, Fiscal Year 2019–20

This apportionment, in the amount of $88,756,320 is made from the Education Protection Account (EPA) in accordance with Section 36 of Article XIII of the Constitution of the State of California in support of county offices of education, school districts, and charter schools as directed by law.

With the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in fiscal year 2013–14, EPA entitlements will continue to be calculated based on adjusted revenue limits, including the allowance for necessary small schools, and charter school block grant funding. In accordance with Section 36 of Article XIII of the Constitution of the State of California, these funding amounts continue as components of the LCFF. The California Department of Education (CDE) will allocate EPA revenues on a quarterly basis through the 2030–31 fiscal year. Charter schools newly operational in the 2013–14 fiscal year and after receive the EPA minimum funding level of $200 per unit of average daily attendance (ADA).

A local educational agency’s (LEA) governing board is required to make spending determinations for EPA funds at an open public meeting and post on the LEA’s website an accounting of how much money was received from the EPA and how that money was spent.

2019–20 Fourth Quarter Entitlement Calculation

Using a 2019–20 EPA revenue amount of approximately $4.2 billion, the CDE calculated estimated EPA entitlements using a factor of 16.0869887 percent based on the statewide total of revenue limits and charter school block grant funding as of the 2019–20 Second Principal Apportionment (P-2). Each LEA’s EPA entitlement was then reduced so that funding from local property taxes and the EPA combined did not exceed the LEA’s adjusted revenue limit or charter school general purpose funding, provided that each LEA received the minimum EPA funding of $200 per unit of ADA. For most LEAs, EPA funding offsets LCFF state aid allocated through the Principal Apportionment. EPA entitlements will be recalculated at the 2019–20 Annual Principal Apportionment and will be based on both Annual Apportionment data and the final EPA revenue amount noted above. EPA entitlements for 2019–20 will become final as of the 2019–20 Annual Certification.

2018–19 P-2 to Annual Adjustment

Fiscal year 2018–19 EPA entitlements became final as of the 2018–19 Annual Certification and have not changed from the 2019–20 Third Quarter Apportionment for the EPA. Any adjustment (positive or negative) in 2018–19 EPA entitlements calculated between 2018–19 P-2 and 2018–19 Annual for an LEA has been applied against its 2019–20 current year EPA apportionment. For more information on adjustments to the 2018–19 EPA entitlements, refer to the letter dated February 20, 2020 for the Third Quarter Apportionment, which can be found on CDE’s web page indicated below.

Payment Information

This apportionment equals 100 percent of each LEA’s 2019–20 EPA entitlement, net of 2018–19 adjustments, less any amounts apportioned in September 2019, December 2019, and March 2020. Future payments may be adjusted for ADA changes, local property taxes, and previous over or underpayments of EPA funds.

The 2019–20 EPA revenue amount used for the P-2 calculation of EPA entitlements is significantly lower than the estimated EPA revenue amount used to determine payments made through Third Quarter. As a result, many LEAs have been overpaid. An LEA’s total amount overpaid in EPA funding as of the 2019–20 P-2 Apportionment is shown on Line E-5 of the Education Protection Account Calculation exhibit for this period, which is available on the Principal Apportionment Funding Exhibits web page at https://ias.cde.ca.gov/apportionment/ias.aspx?schoolyearid=2019&RptType=P2&CertType=Non. LCFF state aid at P-2 may be overstated for some local educational agencies due to the decline in EPA revenue as of the Fourth Quarter. Overpaid EPA funds will be recovered from an offset of the P-2 payment and by invoice if Principal Apportionment funds are insufficient. Once the offset of Principal Apportionment funds has been completed, the funds will be deposited into the EPA Fund and payments can be made to LEAs still owed a Fourth Quarter payment. The P-2 calculation of LCFF state aid reflects an LEA’s revised EPA entitlement rather than EPA payments to date for the current fiscal year. When the total LCFF state aid received by an LEA for Fiscal Year 2019–20 including the P-2 Apportionment payment offset is combined with the total EPA funds through the Fourth Quarter payment, all LEAs will have their state aid for Fiscal Year 2019–20 fully funded. Offset information has been included for informational purposes on the P-2 Apportionment Payment Schedule available on the CDE 2019–20 Principal Apportionment web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/pa1920.asp.

On June 15, 2020, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 76, that would amend Education Code Section 14041.5, deferring the P-2 payment from June 2020 to July 2020. The State Controller’s Office estimates that the P-2 payment will be issued to county treasures on July 15, 2020 and the Fourth Quarter EPA apportionment will be issued on July 21, 2020, and county superintendents of schools should advise school districts and charter schools immediately of this apportionment. For standardized account code structure (SACS) coding for current year funds, use Resource 1400, Education Protection Account, and Revenue Object 8012, Education Protection Account Entitlement. The 2018–19 EPA Entitlement adjustment from P-2 to Annual that was not accrued in the prior year should be recorded to Resource 1400 using Object 8019, Revenue Limit State Aid – Prior Years.

Resources

For additional information on EPA calculations, letters of apportionment, payment schedules, spending restrictions, frequently asked questions, SACS financial reporting, and more, please refer to CDE’s EPA web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/epa.asp.

If you have questions regarding the EPA entitlement calculation, please contact the Principal Apportionment Section by email at PASE@cde.ca.gov. For questions related to SACS financial reporting, please contact the Office of Financial Accountability and Information Services by email at sacsinfo@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Wendi McCaskill, Associate Director
School Fiscal Services Division

WM:lv