Approved

OMB No. 1855-0010

Exp. Date 

Reporting Instructions for the Charter School Facilities Financing Demonstration Grants 

and Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities Grants 

Paperwork Burden Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a 

collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid 

OMB control number for this collection is 1855-0010. Public reporting burden for this collection 

of information is estimated to average 25 hours per response, including time for reviewing 

instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and 

completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this 

collection is required to obtain or retain benefit according to section 5527 part b of the 

Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Send comments regarding the burden 

estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing 

this burden, to the U.S. Department of Education, Attention: Clearance Officer, 400 Maryland 

Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20202-4651. If you have comments or concerns regarding the 

status of your individual submission of these forms, write directly to: Credit Enhancement for 

Charter School Facilities Program, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., 

Room 4W221, Washington D.C. 20202.

Material Event Reports

The grantees are required to provide, in a timely manner, notice and disclosure of any material 

event in connection with the Grantee’s Standards of Conduct, as revised, governing the Grantee’s 

employees, officers, directors, trustees and agents (collectively “Covered Persons”) engaged in 

the selection, award, and administration of contracts or agreements related to the Grant. A 

material event may include, but is not necessarily limited to, the direct or indirect financial 

interest of a Covered Person in any financed charter school or any contract or agreement executed 

in furtherance of the Grant purposes or the Program, or any direct or indirect conflict of interest in 

the decision-making related thereto. Disclosure of any such material event must also discuss 

remedies and corrective actions undertaken.

Annual Reports

All grantees must provide:

 The grant performance summary page. This page provides a summary of grant activities

related to the performance of the grant.

 An evaluation by the grantee of the effectiveness of its use of Federal funds to leverage other 

funds that includes: 

o a description of the activities used to assist charter schools in acquiring (by purchase, 

lease or donation) or constructing (including renovating, repairing, and altering) school 

facilities and a description of the characteristics of lenders and other financial institutions 

participating in the activities undertaken by the grantee. 
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o a statement about whether the grantee has sufficient resources from its grant to serve 

additional schools, (2) an approximate number of how many additional schools it can 

serve within 12 months, and (3) the amount of grant funds available, including the 

amount of grant funds that are anticipated to be recycled within the next 12 months. 

o a brief narrative describing the uses of the actual expenditures in the budget.

o a timeline that includes specific schedules and accomplishments pertaining to the 

grantee’s program during the reporting period.

o in the event that the there have been any delinquencies or defaults or reimbursements of 

delinquencies or defaults, a statement regarding the school(s) and remedies, a description 

of draws from and reimbursements to the reserve account during the reporting period. 

o in the event that there has been a notice of probation, suspension, or revocation of a 

charter, an explanation of the circumstances.

o in the event you collaborated with another grantee to serve one or more charter schools, 

indicate the names of the schools and the grantees.

 An IRS Form 990 (due 30 days after filing).

 An audit report (including any opinion thereon); the OMB Circular A-133 audit; and audited 

financial statements, including schedules and auditor’s notes related to the specific activity 

for which the Grant money was awarded, (due 180 days following the end of the Grantee’s 

standard fiscal year). 

 The EXCEL spreadsheet containing three workbooks.

 Bank or brokerage statement(s) for all reserve account investments and deposits as of the last 

day of the reporting period, or as close to that date as possible. There is no need to submit 

statements for every month of the year.

Grantees that make loans or own school facilities

Grantees that use their grants to credit-enhance loans that they (rather than a third party) make or 

fund must provide copies of the commitment letters for charter schools served under this grant as 

part of these reports. In addition, grantees that either 

 credit enhance loans for buildings that they own and rent to charter schools or 

 guarantee or insure leases of a building(s) that they own must submit a copy of the lease 

and the terms and conditions of the guarantee of the lease. 

Unless otherwise noted above, the annual report is due by November 30 of each year.
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Instructions for budget report

Provide the actual amount of funds spent for the most recent year in the first column. Provide at 

least five years of projected budgets in addition to actual budget figures for prior years. Since 

these grants are awarded on a competitive basis, the US Department of Education’s (ED) ability 

to approve deviations from previous budgets and the scope of their projects is limited. Grantees 

provided years 1-5 of their budgets as part of their performance agreement. Grantees should not 

assume that they may proceed with changes to their budgets unless they have explicit written 

approval from ED. Grantees must report funds on a cash rather than an accrual basis.

A. Administrative funds:

A.1. Indirect costs: Many organizations have indirect cost rates established with the U.S. 

Department of Education that allow those organizations to spend a portion of their grant 

funds on a share of the total organization costs such as rent and utilities. For this grant 

you may choose to claim indirect costs, but the total amount may not exceed the 1⁄4 of 1% 

allowed by statute. Also, if you choose to claim indirect costs, the sum of your indirect 

costs and your other administrative costs (line A.2.) combined may not exceed the 

allowable 1⁄4 of 1%.

A.2. Administrative costs other than indirect costs: Administrative costs are allowed for 

such activities as preparing reports. Administrative cost funds are capped by the 

program’s authorizing statute at 1⁄4 of 1% (0.25%) of the award amount. Administrative 

costs may be spread out over the project period, but the total amount may not exceed 1⁄4 

of 1% in total. Also, if you choose to claim indirect costs, the sum of your indirect costs 

and your other administrative costs (line A.2.) combined may not exceed the allowable 1⁄4 

of 1%. 

A. Total administrative costs: The total for this line should include the sum of lines A, A.1. and 

A.2. This line cannot exceed 1⁄4 of 1% of the award amount for the entire project period.

B. Reserve account earnings: Earnings include the total interest earned per year on reserve 

account funds as well as all fees charged in association with the project, because fees must also be 

added to the reserve account and used for the four allowable purposes of the grant.

C. Reserve account expenditures

C.1. Grant funds spent on guaranteeing and insuring debt and leases

C.1.a. Personnel and fringe benefits: All costs associated with paying personnel who will 

receive reserve account funds for their direct involvement with guaranteeing and insuring 

debt and leases. (We expect that this will not be a significant portion of the total request.)

C.1.b. Payments to third parties to guarantee or insure debt: All payments made with 

reserve account funds to third parties, such as fees for guaranteeing or insuring debt.

C.1.c. Other payments associated with guaranteeing and insuring debt and leases: Any 

other costs paid for with reserve account funds that are not covered in C.1. a-b that can be 

directly attributed to guaranteeing and insuring debt and leases.
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C.1. Total Guaranteeing and insuring debt and leases payments: The sum of lines C.1.a., C.1.b., 

and C.1.c.

C.2. Grant funds spent on facilitating financing (including facilitating lending and the issuance of 

bonds)

C.2.a. Personnel and fringe benefits: All costs associated with paying personnel who will 

receive reserve account funds for their direct involvement with facilitating financing. 

C.2.b. Contractual: All costs associated with paying contractors that will receive reserve 

account funds for their work facilitating financing.

C.2.c. Other payments associated with facilitating financing: Any other costs paid for 

with reserve account funds that are not covered in lines C.2. a-b that can be directly 

attributed to facilitating financing.

C.2. Total grant funds spent on facilitating financing (including facilitating lending and the 

issuance of bonds): The sum of lines C.2.a., C.2.b., and C.2.c.

C.3. Total reserve account costs (lines C.1. and C.2.): The sum of lines C.1. and C.2. The 

amount in the total column for this row cannot exceed the sum of the request on Form ED 424 

(the Application for Federal Education Assistance) plus reserve account earnings, and would 

likely be less. 
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Instructions for the EXCEL spreadsheet (other than the budget)

Workbooks

Newly, Previously, and Leases workbook. This workbook is for charter schools (1) that had a 

financing close in the most recent reporting period, (2) that were served under prior reporting 

periods, and (3) for which grantees are guaranteeing or insuring leases, facilitating lending, or 

facilitating bonding. All charter schools served should be reflected on this workbook. 

If you are completing the Supporting Data section for a newly financed school, defined as a 

school that was financed this reporting period, please complete columns A-AC, AI, and AJ. If the 

school was previously financed, please complete or update columns A-AD, AI, and AJ. Once a 

grantee’s guarantee has been removed, the grantee may indicate “$0.00” for column AC. Lastly, 

if the funds were used for insuring leases, facilitating lending, or facilitating bonding please 

complete columns A-G and AD-AJ.

After completing the Supporting Data section (bottom half of the “Newly, Previously and Leases” 

workbook), please calculate the total amounts, per year, for the Summary Table. For the Loan 

Amount Leveraged (row 7 in the Summary Table), please add the “Loan Amount Financed”

(column T) and “Total Leveraged” (column AH), for each year. Place these yearly totals in the 

Summary Table under the corresponding year. 

For the Amount of Loans Directly Credit Enhanced (row 8 in the Summary Table), please 

total “Size of the Loan Benefitting from the Credit Enhancement” column U, for each year. Place 

these yearly totals in the Summary Table under the corresponding year. 

For the Number of Schools served (row 9 in the Summary Table), please total the number of 

schools served each year. This number may reflect a charter school that was served, for example, 

in 2004 and then again in 2005. The school will be counted for both years. 

For the Number of New Schools served (row 10 in the Summary Table), please total the 

number of new schools served each year, taking into consideration a school may only be counted 

once, even though additional financing may have been given to the school in subsequent years. 

The school should be considered a new school only in the first year it receives financing. If a 

school receives several financings, this number will be captured on the Performance Report 

Summary Sheet under the “Number of total transactions served under the grant since the 

inception of the grant project”.

Reconciliation. This workbook reconciles the initial grant and the earnings and expenses with the 

grantee’s investment balances. In the event that the numbers do not reconcile, please provide a 

brief description as to what you are doing to review and correct your financial information. Some 

of the numbers on this spreadsheet will automatically generate based on numbers the grantees 

provide in their budgets. This workbook is a template that might not be complete for all grantees, 

particularly those that have grants that have been in existence for several years. Column “C” of 

the reconciliation workbook includes links to the budget form, grantees that have had their grant 

for more than one year will copy the formulas in this column and paste them in additional 

columns for additional years. Grantees should only link to actual numbers in the budget form, not 

projected numbers for future years. Some grantees will have to add columns and change the cell 

reference from “C10” to the letter for the appropriate column when calculating the difference that 

represents the reconciled grant amount in cell “A28.” 
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Data definitions and procedures for the EXCEL spreadsheets

Time period. The transactions that are to be reported in the EXCEL spreadsheet are those that 

take place during the Federal fiscal year (October 1 until September 30). 

NCES Identification Number. The unique number that the National Center for Education 

Statistics (NCES) uses to identify a school. NCES generally assigns these numbers when charter 

schools are at the planning stage. If a school cannot give you this number, you can locate the 

number at http://nces.ed.gov/globallocator/. 

Amount of financing leveraged. The dollar amount of debt financing as a direct result of the 

guarantee using the Credit Enhancement grant. A grantee may count senior debt towards the total 

amount of funds leveraged if it uses grant funds to guarantee or insure subordinate debt. 

Likewise, grantees may count subordinate debt toward the total amount of funds leveraged if it 

only uses grant funds to credit-enhance senior debt. 

For credit enhancements of leasehold improvements loans, grantees may count the value of the 

outstanding amount of rent under the lease plus the leasehold improvements as funds leveraged. 

Grantees may not count the value of the building itself, or proxies thereof, toward funds 

leveraged for credit enhancing leasehold improvement loans. 

Grantees may not count equity provided by the charter school (or other building owner) or parties 

on behalf of the charter school (or other building owner) towards the amount of financing 

leveraged.

Amortization structure. The structure or combination of structures that is used to repay debt. 

(E.g., sequential pay (a senior-subordinate debt structure); fully amortizing (returning principal to 

investors throughout the life of the security); controlled amortization (interest-only payments 

followed by a series of principal payments); bullet (a single payment); and floater (floating 

interest rate).) Please provide for each component of the financing for the school.

Amortization schedule. The due dates for principal and interest payments (e.g., interest- only 

payments on a monthly basis from 1/2004 until 12/2013 with a bullet principal payment on 

12/2013). Please provide for each component of the financing for the school.

Maturity date. The date by which the debt is scheduled to be repaid. Please provide for each 

component of the financing for the school.

Conversion features. Options, if any, the borrower has to change the maturity date or 

amortization schedule or structure. Please provide for each component of the financing for the 

school.

Amount of fees paid by charter school to the grantee. Any fees that either have or will be paid by 

charter schools to the grantee either for the benefit of the credit enhancement or other service(s) 

offered provided by the grantee to the charter school. Include fees for services that might not 

necessarily tie to services provided under the Federal grant.

Basis for calculating the interest rate. Provide the interest rate type (i.e., fixed or variable rate) of 

the financing. If variable, indicate the benchmark rate (and spread if any) and rate re-set 

frequency. 
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Impact of the credit enhancement on the terms and the conditions of the loan. Provide two or 

three sentences summarizing the impact of the credit enhancement on the terms and conditions of

the loan. The complete summary may be included in the narrative portion of the annual 

performance report.

Impact of the credit enhancement funds on the overall project of the school served. Provide two 

or three sentences summarizing the impact of the credit enhancement funds on the overall project 

of the school served. A more complete summary may be included in the narrative portion of the 

annual performance report.

What happened to the school after the credit enhancement expired. If known, please provide two 

or three sentences summarizing what happened with the school, the facility, and the overall 

performance of the students after the credit enhancement expired. An example of what happened

to the school after the credit enhancement expired would be the school was able to secure long 

term financing and has increased performance by X%.

Percentage of Students Proficient and Advanced in Math and Reading. For each school with 

grant funds committed to a project, please provide the percentage of students scoring proficient 

and advanced in Math and Reading (on a school-wide basis). In addition, please provide the 

percentage of students scoring proficient and advanced in Math and Reading in the State . Please 

use the prior year’s (the school year ending in the ending year of the reporting period) academic 

data.