DC Code § 38-1804.03 (2021)
2021 District of Columbia Code|Title 38 - Educational Institutions|Chapter 18 - District of Columbia School Reform (Public Charter Schools)|Subchapter IV - Per Capita District of Columbia Public School and Public Charter School Funding|§ 38-1804.03. Payments

(a) In general. — (1) Escrow for public charter schools. — Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, for any fiscal year, not later than 10 days after the date of enactment of an act making appropriations for the District of Columbia for such fiscal year, the Mayor shall place in escrow an amount equal to the aggregate of the amounts determined under § 38-1804.01(b)(1)(B) for use only by District of Columbia public charter schools. (2) Transfer of escrow funds. — (A) Initial payment. — (i) In general. — Except as provided in sub-subparagraphs (ii) and (iii) of this subparagraph, no later than July 15, October 15, January 15, and April 15 of each year, the Mayor shall transfer, by electronic funds transfer, the quarterly payments for each public charter school as prescribed in § 38-2906.02 to a bank designated by such school. (ii) Reduction in case of a new school. — In the case of a public charter school that has received a payment pursuant to subsection (b) of this section in the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year in which a transfer pursuant to sub-subparagraph (i) of this subparagraph is made, the amounts transferred to the school under sub-subparagraph (i) of this subparagraph shall be reduced by an amount equal to 25% of the amount of the payment made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. (iii) Funds received from the Education Jobs Fund, established by section 101 of An Act To modernize the air traffic control system, improve the safety, reliability, and availability of transportation by air in the United States, provides for modernization of the air traffic control system, reauthorizes the Federal Aviation Administration, and for other purposes, approved August 10, 2010 (Pub. L. No.111-226; 124 Stat. 2389) (“Act”), shall be disbursed to public charter schools at such times as are consistent with the requirements of the Act, its implementing regulations, and other applicable federal regulations. (B) Repealed. (C) Pro rata reduction or increase in payments. — (i) Pro rata reduction. — If the funds made available to the District of Columbia Government for the District of Columbia public school system and each public charter school for any fiscal year are insufficient to pay the full amount that such system and each public charter school is eligible to receive under this subchapter for such year, the Mayor shall ratably reduce such amounts for such year on the basis of the formula described in § 38-1804.01(b). (ii) Increase. — If additional funds become available for making payments under this subchapter for such fiscal year, amounts that were reduced under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall be increased on the same basis as such amounts were reduced. (D) Unexpended funds. — Any funds that remain in the escrow account for public charter schools on September 30 of a fiscal year shall revert to the general fund of the District of Columbia. (E) Reprogramming limitation. — Funds appropriated for public charter school payments that remain in the escrow account for public charter schools due to projected public charter school enrollment exceeding verified enrollment may only be reprogrammed to agencies in the public education system cluster of the District’s budget. (b) Payments to public schools and public charter schools. — (1) Establishment of fund. — The fund previously established in the General Fund of the District of Columbia as the “Charter School Fund” shall be redesignated the Student Enrollment Fund. Amounts deposited in the Student Enrollment Fund shall be available for expenditure without further appropriation and shall remain available until expended for the purposes described in paragraph (3) of this subsection. Amounts remaining unobligated or unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund of the District of Columbia. (2) Contents of fund. — The Student Enrollment Fund shall consist of: (A) Unexpended and unobligated amounts appropriated from local funds for public charter schools for each fiscal year that reverted to the General Fund of the District of Columbia, together with any other local funds that the Chief Financial Officer certifies are necessary to effect the purposes of the fund during the fiscal year; provided, that the amount of funds deposited shall not exceed $8 million in any fiscal year; and (B) Any interest earned on such amounts. (3) Purposes of fund. — The Student Enrollment Fund shall be used to assist public schools and public charter schools in the District of Columbia by providing funding in cases where the total verified enrollment, including enrollment in special needs categories, exceeds the projected student enrollment on which the annual appropriation is based in that fiscal year. (4) Expenditures from fund. — (A) Expenditures from the Student Enrollment Fund for enrollment in excess of the annual public charter school projection for any public charter school operating in that fiscal year shall be authorized in cases where the total verified actual enrollment, including enrollment in special needs categories, exceeds the projected student enrollment on which the annual appropriation is based in that fiscal year. (B) Expenditures from the Student Enrollment Fund for enrollment in excess of annual public school projections shall be authorized in cases where the total verified actual enrollment exceeds that of the student enrollment on which the annual appropriation is based in that fiscal year. (5) Form of payment. — Payments under this subsection shall be made by electronic funds transfer from the Student Enrollment Fund to a bank designated by a public charter school. (6) Authorization of appropriations. — There are authorized to be appropriated to the Chief Financial Officer such sums as may be necessary to effect the purposes of this subsection for each fiscal year. (c) Assignment of payments. — A public charter school may assign any payments made to the school under this section to a financial institution for use as collateral to secure a loan or for the repayment of a loan.  (Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321 [259], Pub. L. 104-134, § 2403; Nov. 19, 1997, 111 Stat. 2191, Pub. L. 105-100, § 172; Nov. 22, 2000, 114 Stat. 2440, Pub. L. 106-522, § 120(d); Feb. 20, 2003, 117 Stat. 132, Pub. L. 108-7, Div. C, title III, § 146(a); Oct. 18, 2004, 118 Stat. 1347, Pub. L. 108-335, § 335(a), (b); Apr. 13, 2005, D.C. Law 15-348, § 102(c)(1), 52 DCR 1991; Mar. 2, 2007, D.C. Law 16-191, § 59, 53 DCR 6794; Sept. 18, 2007, D.C. Law 17-20, § 4032(d), 54 DCR 7052; Apr. 8, 2011, D.C. Law 18-370, § 403(b), 58 DCR 1008; Oct. 22, 2015, D.C. Law 21-36, § 4162, 62 DCR 10905; Dec. 13, 2017, D.C. Law 22-33, § 4152(b), 64 DCR 7652.)  Prior Codifications 1981 Ed., § 31-2853.43. Section References This section is referenced in § 38-2906.02. Effect of Amendments Section 120 (d) of Public Law 106-522 added subsec. (c) providing for assignment of payments. Section 146(a) of Public Law 108-7 rewrote subsec. (b). Pub. L. 108-335, in subsec. (b)(1), added at the end “Amounts in the Charter School Fund shall remain available until expended, and any amounts in the Fund remaining unobligated or unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund of the District of Columbia.”; and in subsec. (b)(2)(A), inserted after “District of Columbia”, “together with any other local funds that the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia certifies are necessary to carry out the purposes of the Fund during the fiscal year,”. D.C. Law 15-348, in subsec. (a)(2), rewrote subpar. (A) and repealed subpar. (B). D.C. Law 16-191 repealed D.C. Law 15-348, § 102(c)(2), which resulted in no change in text. D.C. Law 17-20 rewrote subsec. (b). D.C. Law 18-370, in subsec. (a)(2)(A), substituted “sub-subparagraphs (ii) and (iii)” for “sub-subparagraph (ii)” in sub-subparagraph (i), and added sub-subparagraph (iii). The 2015 amendment by D.C. Law 21-36 added (a)(2)(E). Emergency Legislation  For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 4152(b) of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-167, Oct. 24, 2017, 64 DCR 10802).   For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 4152(b) of Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-104, July 20, 2017, 64 DCR 7032).  For temporary (90-day) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of the Public School Enrollment Integrity Emergency Amendment Act of 2000 (D.C. Act 13-409, August 14, 2000, 47 DCR 7264). For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of the Public School Enrollment Integrity Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2000 (D.C. Act 13-453, November 7, 2000, 47 DCR 9406). For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of Public School Enrollment Integrity Emergency Amendment Act of 2001 (D.C. Act 14-86, July 9, 2001, 48 DCR 6373). For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of Public School Enrollment Integrity Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2001 (D.C. Act 14-192, November 29, 2001, 48 DCR 11239). For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of Public School Enrollment Integrity Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-174, October 6, 2003, 50 DCR 9181). For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of Public School Enrollment Integrity Clarification Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2003 (D.C. Act 15-282, December 18, 2003, 51 DCR 191). For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 3(c) of Public School Enrollment Integrity Clarification Emergency Amendment Act of 2004 (D.C. Act 15-519, August 2, 2004, 51 DCR 8995). For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 4032(e) of Fiscal Year 2008 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2007 (D.C. Act 17-74, July 25, 2007, 54 DCR 7549). For temporary (90 day) amendment of section, see § 403(b) of Fiscal Year 2011 Supplemental Budget Support Emergency Act of 2010 (D.C. Act 18-694, January 19, 2011, 58 DCR 662). For temporary (90 days) addition of this section, see § 4162 of the Fiscal Year 2016 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2015 (D.C. Act 21-127, July 27, 2015, 62 DCR 10201). Temporary Legislation Section 3(c) of D.C. Laws 13-427 added subsec. (c) to read as follows: “(c) Annual reports.—Not later than October 30 of each year the Mayor shall prepare and submit to the Authority, the Council, the Comptroller General of the United States, and the appropriate congressional committees a report containing a summary of the calculations made pursuant to subsection (b) of this subsection, including the four immediately prior reporting periods specified in subsection (a) of this section.”. Section 6(b) of D.C. Laws 13-427 provided that the act shall expire after 225 days of its having taken effect. Section 3(c)(1)(A), 3(c)(2)(A), and 3(c)(2)(B) of D.C. Law 14-38 rewrote subpars. (a)(2)(A)(i) and (ii), par. (b)(4) and subpar. (b)(5)(B) to read as follows respectively: “(i) In General.—Except as provided in sub-subparagraph (ii) of this subparagraph, no later than July 15, October 15, January 15, and April 15 of each year, the Mayor shall transfer, by electronic funds transfer, the quarterly payments for each public charter school as prescribed in section 107a of the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for Public Schools and Public Charter Schools Act of 1998, effective March 26, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-207; D.C. Official Code § 38-2906(a)), to a bank designated by such school. “(ii) Reduction in case of a new school.—In the case of a public charter school that has received a payment pursuant to subsection (b) of this section in the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year in which a transfer pursuant to sub-subparagraph (i) of this subparagraph is made, the amounts transferred to the school under sub-subparagraph (i) of this paragraph shall be reduced by an amount equal to 25% of the amount of the payment pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.”. “(4) Credits to fund.—Upon the receipt of each of its payments pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A) of this section by a public charter school described in paragraph (5) of this subsection, the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia shall credit the New Charter School Fund with 25 % of the amount paid to the school pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection.”. “(B) Has had its petition to establish a public charter school approved pursuant to section 2203 of this Act and is scheduled to begin operation as a public charter school in the fiscal year for which funds are appropriated to carry out the provisions of this subsection.”. Section 3(c)(3)of D.C. Law 14-38 added a new subsec. (c) to read as follows: “(c) Additional payment to New Schools. — Until the first day of the fiscal year shall be changed to July 1, the amount of payment to a public charter school described in subsection (b)(5)(B) of this section, shall be increased by 1/12 of the total dollar amount to which the public charter school is entitled for the fiscal year based on its unaudited October 5 enrollment.”. Section 3(c)(1)(B) of D.C. Law 14-38 repealed par. (a)(2)(B). Section 6(b) of D.C. Law 14-38 provided that the act shall expire after 225 days of its having taken effect. Section 3(c) of D.C. Law 15-67, in subsec. (a)(2), rewrote subpar. (A), and repealed subpar. (B); in subsec. (b), rewrote pars. (4) and (5)(B); and added subsec. (d). Subpar. (A) of subsec. (a)(2), pars. (4) and (5)(B) of subsec. (b), and subsec. (d) read as follows: “(A) Initial payment. — “(i) In General. — Except as provided in sub-subparagraph (ii) of this subparagraph, no later than July 15, October 15, January 15, and April 15 of each year, the Mayor shall transfer, by electronic funds transfer, the quarterly payments for each public charter school as prescribed in section 107a of the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for Public Schools and Public Charter Schools Act of 1998, passed by the Council on an emergency basis on September 16, 2003 (Enrolled version of Bill 15-431), to a bank designated by such school. “(ii) Reduction in case of a new school. — In the case of a public charter school that has received a payment pursuant to subsection (b) of this section in the fiscal year immediately preceding the fiscal year in which a transfer pursuant to sub-subparagraph (i) of this subparagraph is made, the amounts transferred to the school under sub-subparagraph (i) of this subparagraph shall be reduced by an amount equal to 25% of the amount of the payment made pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.” “(4) Credits to fund. — Upon the receipt of each of its payments pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A) of this section by a public charter school described in paragraph (5) of this subsection, the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia shall credit the New Charter School Fund with 25% of the amount paid to the school pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection.” “(B) Has had its petition to establish a public charter school approved pursuant to section 2203 and is scheduled to begin operation as a public charter school in the fiscal year for which funds are appropriated to carry out the provisions of this subsection.” “(d) Additional payment to new schools. — Until section 441 of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act is amended to establish the first day of the fiscal year for D.C. Public Schools and Public Charter Schools as July 1, the amount of payment to a public charter school described in subsection (b)(5)(B) of this section, shall be increased by 1/12 of the total dollar amount to which the public charter school is entitled for the fiscal year based on its unaudited October 5 enrollment.” Section 6(b) of D.C. Law 15-67 provided that the act shall expire after 225 days of its having taken effect. Editor's Notes Section 102(c)(2) of D.C. Law 15-348 purported to amend this section. Those amendments were not given effect due to the prior amendments by Pub. L. 108-7. Section 146(b) of Pub. L. 108-7 provided: “(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, $5,000,000 from the Charter School Fund established pursuant to section 2403(b) of the District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 (D.C. Official Code, sec. 38-1804.03(b)), as amended by subsection (a), shall be deposited not later than 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act into the credit enhancement revolving fund established pursuant to section 603(e) of the Student Loan Marketing Association Reorganization Act of 1996 ( 20 U.S.C. 1155(e)).” Section 335(c) of Pub. L. 108-335 provided that the amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2005 and each succeeding fiscal year. Section 827 of Pub. L. 110-161, Dec. 26, 2007, 121 Stat. 2042, provided: “In fiscal year 2008 and thereafter, amounts deposited in the Student Enrollment Fund shall be available for expenditure upon deposit and shall remain available until expended consistent with the terms detailed in 'The Student Funding Formula Assessment, Educational Data Warehouse, and Enrollment Fund Establishment Amendment Act of 2007' (title IV-D of D.C. Law 17-0020) and the entire provisions of that Act are incorporated herein by reference.”