Colorado Code § 22-54-124

State aid for charter schools - use of state education fund money - definitions
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(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Capital construction" means construction, demolition, remodeling, maintaining,
financing, purchasing, or leasing of land, buildings, or facilities used to educate pupils enrolled
in or to be enrolled in a charter school.
(b) "Charter school" means a district charter school as described in section 22-30.5-104
or an institute charter school as defined in section 22-30.5-502.
(c) "District's certified charter school pupil enrollment" means the total number of pupils
who are not online pupils, as defined in section 22-30.5-103 (6), expected to be enrolled in all
qualified charter schools that will receive funding from the district pursuant to section 22-30.5-
112 for the budget year for which state education fund moneys are to be appropriated and
distributed pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, as certified by the department of education
pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of this section during the budget year that
immediately precedes said budget year.
(c.5) "Institute charter school's certified pupil enrollment" means the total number of
pupils who are not online pupils, as defined in section 22-30.5-502 (9), expected to be enrolled
in a qualified institute charter school that will receive funding pursuant to section 22-30.5-513
for the budget year for which state education fund moneys are to be appropriated and distributed
pursuant to subsection (4) of this section, as certified by the department of education pursuant to
paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of this section during the budget year that immediately precedes
said budget year.
(d) "Minimum capital reserve amount per pupil" means the minimum amount per pupil
required to be budgeted by each district to the capital reserve fund created by section 22-45-103
(1)(c), a risk management fund or account, or both, pursuant to section 22-54-105 (2)(a) and
(2)(b), without regard to any exception to said minimum budgeting requirement permitted
pursuant to section 22-54-105 (2)(c).
(e) "Operating revenues" means the total amount of funding that a district charter school
receives from a district for a budget year pursuant to section 22-30.5-112 minus the amounts
required by section 22-30.5-112 (2)(a.7) to be allocated for capital reserve purposes or the
management of risk-related activities. For purposes of an institute charter school, "operating
revenues" means the total amount of funding that the institute charter school receives from the
state charter school institute for a budget year pursuant to section 22-30.5-513, minus the
amounts required by section 22-30.5-514 (1), to be allocated for capital reserve purposes or the
management of risk-related activities.
(f) and (f.5) Repealed.
(f.6) (I) For the budget years commencing on or after July 1, 2003, "qualified charter
school" means:
(A) A charter school that is not operating in a school district facility and that has capital
construction costs;
(B) A charter school that is operating in a school district facility and that has capital
construction costs; or
(C) A charter school that is operating or will operate in the next budget year in a facility
that is listed on the state inventory of real property and improvements and other capital assets
maintained by the office of the state architect pursuant to section 24-30-1303.5, C.R.S., and that
is obligated to make lease payments for use of the facility.
(II) For budget years commencing on or after July 1, 2003, "qualified charter school"
does not include:
(A) A charter school that is operating in a school district facility and that does not have
capital construction costs;
(B) A charter school that does not have capital construction costs; or
(C) A charter school that is operating or will operate in the next budget year in a facility
that is listed on the state inventory of real property and improvements and other capital assets
maintained by the office of the state architect pursuant to section 24-30-1303.5, C.R.S., and that
is not obligated to make lease payments for use of the facility.
(2) (a) For the 2001-02 budget year and budget years thereafter, a district shall be
eligible to receive state education fund moneys for district charter school capital construction
pursuant to this section if at least one qualified district charter school will be receiving funding
from the district pursuant to section 22-30.5-112 during the budget year for which state
education fund moneys are to be distributed.
(b) For the 2004-05 budget year and budget years thereafter, an institute charter school
shall be eligible to receive state education fund moneys for institute charter school capital
construction if the institute charter school will be receiving funding from the state charter school
institute pursuant to section 22-30.5-513 during the budget year for which state education fund
moneys are to be distributed.
(3) (a) (I) and (II) Repealed.
(III) (A) The total amount of state education fund moneys to be appropriated for all
eligible districts and for all eligible institute charter schools for the 2003-04 through 2011-12
budget years shall be an amount equal to five million dollars; except that, for the 2006-07 budget
year, an additional two million eight hundred thousand dollars shall be appropriated from the
state education fund and shall be used for the purposes of this section, and for the 2008-09
budget year, an additional one hundred thirty-five thousand dollars shall be appropriated from
the state education fund and shall be distributed pursuant to section 22-54-133, as said section
existed prior to its repeal in 2010. The total amount of state education fund moneys to be
appropriated for all eligible districts and for all eligible institute charter schools for the 2012-13
budget year is six million dollars. The total amount of state education fund moneys to be
appropriated for all eligible districts and for all eligible institute charter schools for the 2013-14
budget year is seven million dollars.
(B) Repealed.
(IV) (A) The total amount of state education fund moneys to be appropriated for all
eligible districts and for all eligible institute charter schools for the 2014-15 budget year is
thirteen million five hundred thousand dollars.
(B) The total amount of state education fund money to be appropriated for all eligible
districts and all eligible institute charter schools for the 2015-16 budget year and for each budget
year thereafter through the 2018-19 budget year is twenty million dollars.
(C) The total amount of state education fund money to be appropriated for all eligible
districts and all eligible institute charter schools for the 2019-20 budget year and for each budget
year thereafter is twenty million dollars multiplied by the quotient of the number of students
included in the statewide funded pupil count who were enrolled in charter schools for the school
year immediately preceding the budget year and the number of students included in the statewide
funded pupil count who were enrolled in charter schools for the 2017-18 school year.
(V) For the 2004-05 budget year, and each budget year thereafter, the amount of state
education fund moneys to be distributed to any eligible district and any eligible institute charter
school shall be an amount equal to the percentage of the sum of the district's certified charter
school pupil enrollment and the institute charter school's certified pupil enrollment for all
eligible districts and eligible institute charter schools in the state that is attributable to the
eligible district or eligible institute charter school multiplied by the total amount of state
education fund moneys distributed to all eligible districts and eligible institute charter schools
for the same budget year pursuant to subparagraphs (III) and (IV) of this paragraph (a).
(b) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), no later than February 1 of each budget
year, the department of education shall certify to the education committees of the senate and the
house of representatives and the joint budget committee of the general assembly the total number
of pupils expected to be enrolled in all qualified charter schools in the state during the next
budget year, as derived from reports provided to the department by districts pursuant to section
22-30.5-112 (1) and by institute charter schools pursuant to section 22-30.5-513 (3)(a). For the
purposes of any certification made during the 2003-04 budget year and budget years thereafter, a
pupil expected to be enrolled in a qualified charter school as defined in subsection (1)(f.6)(I)(B)
of this section shall be counted as one-half of one pupil.
(4) (a) For the 2001-02 budget year, the 2003-04 budget year, and each budget year
thereafter, the general assembly shall annually appropriate from the state education fund created
in section 17 (4) of article IX of the state constitution, to the department of education for
distribution to eligible school districts and eligible institute charter schools in accordance with
the formula set forth in paragraph (a) of subsection (3) of this section, an amount equal to the
total amount of moneys to be distributed to all districts and institute charter schools as
determined pursuant to said formula.
(b) Prior to the 2009-10 budget year, from the moneys appropriated for a given budget
year pursuant to this section, the department of education shall make lump sum payments of all
moneys to be distributed to each eligible school district and eligible institute charter school
during the budget year as soon as possible.
(c) For the 2009-10 budget year through the 2023-24 budget year, the department of
education shall distribute the total amount to be distributed pursuant to this section to each
eligible school district and eligible institute charter school in twelve approximately equal
monthly payments during the applicable budget year in conjunction with the distribution of the
state's share of district total program pursuant to section 22-54-115.
(d) For the 2024-25 budget year and each budget year thereafter, the department of
education shall distribute the total amount to be distributed pursuant to this section to each
eligible school district and eligible institute charter school pursuant to section 22-54-115.
(4.5) Repealed.
(5) A district that receives state education fund moneys pursuant to this section shall
distribute all moneys received to qualified charter schools as required by section 22-30.5-112.3
and may not retain any of such moneys to defray administrative expenses or for any other
purpose.
(6) Pursuant to section 17 (3) of article IX of the state constitution, any moneys
appropriated by the general assembly out of the state education fund, received by any eligible
district or eligible institute charter school pursuant to this section, and distributed to a qualified
charter school by any district pursuant to this section and section 22-30.5-112.3 shall be exempt
from:
(a) The limitation on state fiscal year spending set forth in section 20 (7)(a) of article X
of the state constitution and section 24-77-103, C.R.S.; and
(b) The limitation on local government fiscal year spending set forth in section 20 (7)(b)
of article X of the state constitution.
(7) The general assembly hereby finds and declares that, for purposes of section 17 of
article IX of the state constitution, providing funding for charter school capital construction from
moneys in the state education fund created in section 17 (4) of article IX of the state constitution
is a permissible use of the moneys in the state education fund since the moneys are being used
for public school building capital construction as authorized by section 17 (4)(b) of article IX of
the state constitution.
(8) The general assembly hereby finds that with the adoption of the new definition of
"qualified charter" school, enacted in House Bill 02-1349 during the second regular session of
the sixty-third general assembly, the program created in this section is a new program as of June
7, 2002, and that the general assembly enacted such new program in order to meet the eligibility
requirements of the incentive grant program included in the federal "No Child Left Behind Act
of 2001", Pub.L. 107-110.
(9) The general assembly recognizes charter schools' continuing need for assistance in
meeting capital construction costs. The general assembly therefore strongly encourages the
governor to allocate a portion of the moneys received by the state through the federal "American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009", Pub.L. 111-5, to charter schools in the state to assist
them in meeting their capital construction and facility costs.

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