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UPDATE ON CALIFORNIA BLOCK GRANT FUNDING FOR ARTS AND PHYSICAL EDUCATON

April 5, 2007

Dear County Superintendents of Schools, Auditors, and Treasurers:

NOTICE OF THE FIRST APPORTIONMENT FOR ARTS, MUSIC, AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION FISCAL YEAR 2006-07

This apportionment, in the amount of $375,000,175, is made from one-time funds provided in Section 43(a)(16) of Assembly Bill 1802 (Chapter 79, Statutes of 2006) as amended by Section 9 of Senate Bill 1131 (Chapter 371, Statutes of 2006). The funds are to be used solely for equipment, supplies, and professional development for arts and music (i.e., visual and performing arts) and physical fitness (i.e., physical education).

Estimated entitlements for each local educational agency (LEA) are based on a rate of $83.04 per unit of average daily attendance (ADA) in kindergarten and grades one through twelve as reported for the 2005-06 second principal apportionment (unrevised), with minimum funding of $2,500 per school site in the LEA. The amount paid in this apportionment reflects 75 percent of each LEA's total entitlement. The remaining funds will be allocated in June 2007. LEAs are required to expend at least $2,500 per school site. There is no deadline on the expenditure of these funds and therefore funds may be carried over to a future fiscal year. LEAs may bring together teachers, school site administrators, district level administrators, parents, and students to collaborate on assessing needs and developing a local plan that will support high quality instruction in both physical education and visual and performing arts.

Charter schools that operated in 2005-06 and reported ADA for the second principal apportionment are eligible for these funds. The schedule of apportionment identifies the amount for direct-funded charter schools separate from the district or county amount. Funding associated with all other charter schools is included in the district or county amount.

In an effort to streamline the state apportionment process, we will continue to post the schedules of apportionment on the California Department of Education (CDE) Web site but eliminate them from our mailings. To view the schedule of apportionment showing a list of schools, by county and district, that generated each payment and the schedules showing other data used in the apportionment calculations, please visit the CDE Categorical Programs Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/ca.

Warrants will be mailed to county treasurers approximately four weeks from the date of this Notice. For standardized account code structure coding, use Resource Code 6761, Arts, Music, and Physical Education, Supplies and Equipment, and Revenue Object Code 8590, All Other State Revenue. County superintendents of schools are requested to inform LEAs immediately of this apportionment.

If you have any fiscal questions regarding this apportionment, please contact Elizabeth Dearstyne, Assistant Fiscal Consultant, Categorical Programs Unit, at (916) 322-0494 or by e-mail at edearstyne@cde.ca.gov. Questions concerning visual and performing arts should be directed to Nancy Carr, Visual and Performing Arts Consultant, Curriculum Leadership Unit, at (916) 445-5669 or by e-mail at ncarr@cde.ca.gov. If you have any questions regarding physical education, please contact Dianne Wilson-Graham, Physical Education Consultant, Curriculum Leadership Unit, at (916) 319-0280 or dwilsong@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

JACK O'CONNELL

It is our understanding that the Block Grant funding for Physical Education and the Arts will be distributed from their CDE Fiscal Services department, no later than February 2007. The initial disbursement will be 75% of the allocation; the remaining 25% will be dispersed in June. It is our impression that the money will be sent directly to districts, without an application process and with minimal reporting requirements.

It is anticipated that school districts will be able to find out the amount they will be receiving for both one-time and ongoing funds around December. Districts will be receiving a letter for the Department of Education that states their specific allocation. They will also be able to access that information between November 2006 and January 2007 on the Department of Education website, http://www.cde.ca.gov

The Funds were allocated on a one-time basis for the purchase of arts, music and/or physical education supplies and equipment and professional development.

The allocation will equal the amount per unit of average daily attendance in kindergarten and grades one through twelve, with a minimum funding level of $2,500 for small schools.

The funding may be used to:

• Purchase visual and performing arts supplies and equipment
• Purchase physical education supplies and equipment
• Provide professional development in the visual and performing arts and physical education

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does the allotted funding require any kind of specific distribution - to every school or school site councils or any other form of mandatory distribution?
   There is no legislative language that requires specific allocation of the funds. Districts are not required to allocate funding to each school site. The flexibility of the legislative language allows for districts to identify district-wide priorities. What is important is that decisions be made in a collaborative and strategic way, reflecting both an understanding of curriculum and issues of access and equity.

2. Is it required that one-time funds be split 50-50 with the Arts?
   This decision will be left to the discretion of the school district, to meet district needs at the local level. Visual and performing arts and physical education are in great need of reinvestment in both professional development and in the acquisition of equipment and supplies. This funding provides a unique opportunity to bring together the interests of all four arts disciplines and physical education in making these important decisions.

3. Can the funding be used for district wide planning and curriculum development, and can funds be spent on that process?
   The funding for professional development accommodates district wide planning and curriculum development needs. Each district will determine its own local plan for determining that process, including how their allotment of the money shall be spent.

4. Who should participate in the decisions about allocation of funding?
   The perspective of all key stakeholders must be brought to the table to envision a district wide plan that will help determine the best use of the new state budget funds. The list should include administrators, teachers, parents, community and business leaders.
   
   CAHPERD strongly suggests that this money should be used to create, improve, or expand high quality, standards-based physical education programs for all students.
   
   We will continue to provide updates on the funding as we gather new information.

SPARK WOULD LIKE TO THANK CAHPERD FOR PROVIDING BLOCK GRANT INFORMATION

SPARK Alignment with California Physical Education Standards

• Kindergarten Standards
• 1st Grade Standards
• 2nd Grade Standards
• 3rd Grade Standards
• 4th Grade Standards
• 5th Grade Standards
• 6th Grade Standards
• 7th Grade Standards
• 8th Grade Standards
• 9th-12th Grade Standards