"Thank you for your question. The website has been updated with more recent information that includes the 2022-23 school year. Additional updates will be posted periodically."
-- LAUSD Charter School Division
Despite assurances by Jose' J. Cole-Gutie'rrez that "approximately every month" the LAUSD would post "the over-allocation reimbursement amounts owed by each charter school," the District had not posted an update since June 30, 2023. At that time records showed these publicly funded private schools owed the public school students of Los Angeles $3,708,006.
On May 6, 2024, the Charter School Division finally published an update to this data on their website. According to this spreadsheet, as of September 30, 2023, Los Angeles Charter Schools had paid $1,991,105 for taking more space than they were entitled to under PROP-39. LAUSD policy specifies that 90% of these funds will go directly to the district schools that were forced to give up more space than was required by law. With Superintendent Carvalho attempting to reduce school funding next year, this money could be a lifesaver for programs that provide "optional services," like having a full-time attendance counselor at a school.
Even with these payments, charter schools owe $148,845 more than they did in the June update. This is due to the $2,139,950 accessed for the 2022-23 school year during the period. This is in addition to the $87,712 that had been billed before the previous update. The total amount billed for last school year was $2,222,662.
According to the letters sent to the schools subject to over-allocation fees on August 11, 2023, payment was due within 30 days of delivery. As of September 30, of the 19 charter schools that were invoiced for over-estimating their enrollment by more than 10% and/or 25 students, five still had not paid their bills:
The most concerning of these is the New Horizons Charter Academy as its failure to pay on time adds to its balance that was already past due. The $258,693 shown by the LAUSD as owed by this charter school to the students of Los Angeles does not include the $1,082,500 that Cole-Gutie'rrez removed from their bill in 2022. This was part of a $7,678,022 giveaway to charter schools that was never explained to the public or, according to Scott Schmerelson, the elected school board. This is what happens when you put a former staff member of the California Charter School Association (CCSA) in charge of regulating these schools.
According to LAUSD Bureaucrats, New Horizons is one of 20 charter schools that are paying off debt incurred between 2015 and 2021 in installments. While the terms of these payment plans have not been publicly disclosed, the amount they are made to pay every month seems to be set at a pace that is excessively slow, especially for a debt that by law was supposed to be paid as soon as it was incurred. For example, Citizens of the World Charter School 5, which over-occupied Shirley Avenue Elementary, only paid $502 between June 30th and September 30, 2023. At this rate, it will take the charter school chain over three and a half years to pay off its $7,205 debt, just for this one school. Other franchises in the chain owe a total of $148,746 and are on a similar payment plan.
It also appears that the LAUSD is not charging interest on the amount that continues to be past due as the total amount that is shown as owed only increased by the fees incurred in the prior school year. The district needs to explain why it is being so generous with these terms when this money could be used to offset some of Superintendent Carvalho's proposed budget cuts.
Since the data provided only covers payments made through September 30, 2023, the public does not know if charter schools are continuing to pay according to the payment plans negotiated with Cole-Gutie'rrez. Schmerelson stated at a candidate forum that he has been told that "everyone is up to date with what they owe," but this seems unlikely given that the fees are due immediately when they are incurred.
Accounting for payments received and the balance owed by charter schools is something that should be tracked in real-time and there is no reason why this information should not be released to the public regularly. The fact that it took the District until May 6th to release data that was created on September 30 leaves an air of suspicion. Accountability demands that up-to-date information be released immediately so that taxpayers can verify that charter schools are paying the fees mandated under the laws implementing PROP-39.
Carl Petersen is a parent advocate for public education, particularly for students with special education needs, who serves as the Education Chair for the Northridge East Neighborhood Council. As a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race, he was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action. Dr. Diane Ravitch has called him "a valiant fighter for public schools in Los Angeles." For links to his blogs, please visit www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. Opinions are his own.
