July 17, 1996
Dr. Jay Robinson, Chairman State Board of Education 301 N. Wilmington St. Raleigh, NC 27601-2825
RE: Advisory Opinion Funding for Charter Schools: G.S. 115C-238.29H(a) and (b)
Dear Dr. Robinson:
You have requested the opinion of this office regarding the interpretation of the funding provision for charter schools set out in G.S. 115C-238.29H(a) and (b). Those subsections provide, in pertinent part, as follows:
- (a)
- The State Board of Education shall allocate to each charter school (i) an amount equal to the average per pupil allocation for average daily membership from the local school administrative unit allotments in which the charter school is located for each child attending the charter school except for the allocation for children with special needs and (ii) an additional amount for each child attending the charter school who is a child with special needs.
- (b)
- If a student attends a charter school, the local school administrative unit in which the child resides shall transfer to the charter school an amount equal to the per pupil local current expense appropriation to the local school administrative unit for the fiscal year.
You have requested our opinion regarding whether subsection (a) requires that the State Board allocate to the charter school based on the average statewide ADM, or requires that the State Board allocate to a charter school based upon the ADM for the school system in which the charter school is located. In our opinion the latter interpretation is the correct one.
First, the specific language used in subsection (a) supports this interpretation. That subsection provides that the amount allocated must be "equal to the average per pupil allocation for average daily membership from the local school administrative unit allotments in which the charter school is located …." Second, the legislation makes it clear that a charter school is a "public school within the local school administrative unit in which it is located." Furthermore, the charter school in an administrative unit "shall be accountable to the local board of education for purposes of ensuring compliance with applicable laws and the provisions of its charter." G.S. 115C-238.9E(a). The legislation mandates that the charter school "be located in the local school administrative unit with which it signed the contract," G.S. 115C-238.29E(e), and further, that "the State Board shall authorize no more than five charter schools per year in one local school administrative unit. G.S. 115C-238.29D(b). All of these provisions strongly support an interpretation of the funding provisions that would tailor the ADM allotments to the LEA involved as opposed to utilizing a uniform allotment based upon average statewide ADM.
Finally, while the interpretation results in differences in charter school funding from one LEA to another, those same differences already exist since ADM allotments differ from one LEA to another. To deviate from the practice followed with respect to non-charter public schools by averaging the statewide ADM would in effect give preference in some LEAs to charter schools
while penalizing charter schools in other LEAs. Furthermore, the legislature recognizes those
financial differences in subsection (b) of G.S. 115C-238.29H when it addressed local funding of
charter schools. That subsection provides that the local unit in which the charter school exists
"shall transfer to the charter school an amount equal to the per pupil local current expense
appropriation to the local school administrative unit for the fiscal year.”
For the reasons set forth above, in our opinion, the method of funding charter schools must be
based upon allocating funds based upon the ADM for the administrative unit in which the charter
school is located and not upon a statewide average.
Should you have further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Edwin M. Speas, Jr.
Senior Deputy Attorney General
Thomas J. Ziko
Deputy Attorney General
Laura E. Crumpler Assistant Attorney General