It’s Audit Time! In Today’s Tip, we’ll be discussing the steps you need to take to submit/upload your Annual Audit — also referred to as the Annual Financial Report (AFR). At CSS, we help review and assist in the completion and submission of the audit for our Charter School Success clients. On-time audits are required to Pass FIRST, … Read More
Charter FIRST Hearing
Charter FIRST is the Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST), which is detailed in Texas Education Code 39.082. The purpose and goal of having a financial accountability rating system is to ensure that open enrollment charter schools continually strive to improve the management of their financial resources and provide transparency and openly report results … Read More
Special Education Fiscal Compliance Survey due November 6
The Special Education Fiscal Compliance Survey is due November 6, and must be completed by all Charters who receive IDEA B funds whether you receive SHARS funding or not. In the past, this report was only for SHARS participants; however, this year, the State is collecting data regarding 2019-20 expenditures in program intent code PIC … Read More
Required Internet Postings for Texas Charters
Charter schools that have websites are required by state law to post certain information on their site. If a charter fails to post the information, it can result in the charter’s mandatory revocation or restructuring of the charter holder’s governing board. Additionally, as recipients of federal funds, charters are also required by federal law and … Read More
Budget Timelines and Amendments
What is the role and purpose of the school budget? The charter school budget—and accompanying process—provides charters and their leaders with an opportunity to justify the collection and expenditure of public funds. In its most simple definition, a school budget describes a charter’s plan for the upcoming year as related to anticipated revenues and expenditures. … Read More
Certificate of Occupancy
Today, we will dive into the need-to-knows of charter operations. This tip revolves around the discussion of a certificate of occupancy. Do those words sound familiar? Yes, to most of us they do. All businesses across the United States must have a certificate of occupancy issued before a business can open, and charter schools are … Read More
ESSA Requirements: Fiscal and Program
ESSA……NCLB……no child or every student..….which one should you follow? How can you keep it all straight? Understanding the guidance and expectations associated with each of the federal grant programs helps you implement programs and use funds efficiently and effectively. Let us help you sort through some of the fiscal and program basics of the Every … Read More
Required Texas and Federal Posters for Charter Schools
Did you know that it is required that certain literature be prominently displayed in an area that your employees are likely to easily see it? The Texas Workforce Commission has established a great website for workplace compliance posters. This website will also take you to the Federal U.S. Department of Labor website for more information. The … Read More
Updated State Aid Template available from TEA
The Charter School 2020-2021 State Aid Template is NOW AVAILABLE on the Texas Education Agency website! Over the last several months, Charter School Success has been working with our client charters to help develop their 2020-2021 budget, using the 2019-2020 State Aid Template information and calculations. Now that the 2020-2021 Estimate of State Aid Template … Read More
National School Lunch Program
The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) is an extensive, federally assisted meal program meant to provide nutritionally balanced meals to school children of need throughout the nation. In FY 2019, schools served over 4.8 billion lunches to children nationwide. The NSLP fed more than 30 million students. At the federal level, the program is administered … Read More