State auditor to At a state Board of Education committee meeting yesterday, member Donna Ikeda said she will be asking the state auditor to come up with allocations for charter schools within a month.
decide charter
school funding
School board member Donna Ikeda
wants a clear determination
of DOE's proper allocationBy Lisa Asato
lasato@starbulletin.comHer announcement came as the committee on New Century Charter Schools met to discuss a proposed policy that would hold the local charter school board accountable should the charter school incur a deficit.
Ikeda, the committee chairwoman, said the policy was needed because of a recent court case in which the state failed in its effort to shut down the Hilo charter school Waters of Life, which had incurred debts of $171,020 for fiscal year 2000-2001. The court's decision, she said, held the Board of Education partly responsible for not having a policy in place. Two other lawsuits are pending.
"If we allow this process to continue, we will be millions of dollars in deficit," Ikeda said.
Charter school Principal Donna Estomago of Lanikai Elementary told committee members the policy was "fraught with difficulties."
Estomago said the policy, which would put the state Department of Education in charge of monitoring the system to identify projected deficits, did not make sense because the problem starts with the department.
She said charter schools "are destined for this kind of spending" because the department still has not delivered to the schools the full $2,997 in per-pupil allotments for regular-education students.
And, she said, the school is still waiting to hear what it will be getting for special-needs students and teachers' pay, which was affected by the new contract. "The allocation is not clear for that school year. That is the problem."
Parent and charter school board member Janet Ishikawa asked the committee to set aside the policy while state lawmakers hammer out bills that address funding issues for charter schools. The Senate Ways and Means Committee will be voting today on one such bill.
After the meeting, Estomago called Ikeda's plans to ask Auditor Marion Higa for the figures by March 21 "good news."
Schools Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto supported the policy, saying it would protect charter schools. Without any clear, existing guidelines on the matter, Hamamoto said, the policy is good because it says to the department, "This is your responsibility."
She said the department will probably need a week to gather and pass on to the auditor the details of federal impact aid, collective-bargaining adjustments and any changes made to the department's budget. Those details will enable Higa to draw up the allotments for charter schools.
"By the 21st it's either (come up with the allotments) to schools, or at least ... what they will be receiving and when it should come in," she said.
The full board approved the policy last night.
State Department of Education
