Court Grants Charter School’s Challenge to California Department of Education’s ADA Calculation Method

In a significant ruling for California charter schools, the Los Angeles Superior Court has granted New Village Charter School’s petition challenging the California Department of Education’s (“CDE”) method of calculating classroom-based average daily attendance (“ADA”). The December 3, 2024 decision in New Village Charter School, Inc. v. State of California Department of Education addresses the eligibility requirements for supplemental funding under Education Code section 42238.023(b). The court found that CDE mischaracterized the School as nonclassroom-based for the supplemental funding program and wrongfully denied the School supplemental funding.

The case arose from the Legislature’s 2022 allocation of $413 million in emergency supplemental funding for public schools following the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding excluded “charter schools classified as nonclassroom-based” as of the second principal apportionment of the 2021-22 fiscal year. CDE denied New Village’s funding request after calculating its classroom-based instruction at 79.87% – just shy of the 80% threshold required under Education Code section 47612.5. New Village challenged this determination, arguing that CDE failed to properly round its ADA figures as required by Education Code section 46303.

The court held that CDE’s classification process constitutes a “computation of ADA” subject to section 46303’s rounding requirements. Specifically, the court found that when calculating the percentage of classroom-based instruction, the CDE must round the final percentage calculation rather than the individual ADA inputs. Under this methodology, New Village’s classroom-based ADA of 45.68 should be rounded to 46, and the total ADA of 57.19 would be rounded to 57, resulting in a classroom-based ADA percentage of 80%, qualifying the school as classroom-based and eligible for supplemental funding.

This ruling provides important clarity for charter schools regarding ADA calculations and classification determinations. Schools falling close to the 80% classroom-based threshold should carefully review their calculations in light of the court’s interpretation of the rounding requirements. The decision may also serve as authority in future disputes over charter school classifications and funding eligibility or facilities allocations under Prop. 39.

Download Legal Alert

Should you have any questions about this Legal Alert, please contact: