Pathways Explained - Utah Charter Access Point

Utah State Charter School Board

CHARTER SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY FRAMEWORK

Utah State Charter School Board

PERCENTILE RANKINGS EXPLAINED

Academic Pathways

Charter schools have the flexibility to choose from three distinct academic pathways that best align with their unique educational goals and philosophies. This empowers charter schools to participate in shaping their evaluation process. Details about each pathway are provided below. Based upon the academic results and evaluations, a school is classified into a tier allowing SCSB to identify schools that may need additional support or oversight. The tiers are as follows:

PATHWAY 1

Pathway 1 uses Percentile Rankings to evaluate the academic performance of a school.

MEETS EXPECTATIONS = Greater than or equal to the 25th percentile
REVIEW = Greater than or equal to the 10th percentile and less than the 25th percentile
ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT = Less than the 10th percentile

PATHWAY 2

Pathway 2 uses a combination of Percentile Rankings and a mission specific academic outcome to evaluate a school's performance.

MEETS EXPECTATIONS (1) = Greater than or equal to the 25th percentile OR
MEETS EXPECTATIONS (2) = Greater than or equal to the 10th percentile and less than the 25th percentile AND achieved the mission specific goal
REVIEW (1) = Greater than or equal to the 10th percentile and less than the 25th percentile AND did not achieve the mission specific goal OR
REVIEW (2) = Less than the 10th percentile AND achieved the mission specific goal
ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT = Less than the 10th percentile and did not achieve the mission specific goal

PATHWAY 3

Pathway 3 uses a nationally norm reference assessment to evaluate a school's academic performance.

MEETS EXPECTATIONS = % of achievement (growth, proficiency) set by testing company
ACTIVE ENGAGEMENT = Did not achieve % of achievement

ASSOCIATIONS

UAPCS

UCN

Get in touch with UCAP Support. Send your message by completing the following:

MESSAGE

Fill in your contact details. Without correct contact information, UCAP support will be unable to follow up with you.

FULL NAME

PHONE

Transfer Rate = Number of transfered students / Total students

Definition: The percentage of students who leave the school during the year to go to another private or public school in the state, to go to home school, or who dropped out. Excluded are non-residents, students whose school of record is another school, students who attended the school for less than 10 days, and students in kindergarten.

Data Source: Enrollment and exit data reported to UTREx.

Retention Rate = Students enrolled at end of previous year and still enrolled on October 1st / Students enrolled at end of previous year

Definition: Percentage of students enrolled at year-end who returned to a school within the LEA by October 1st of the following school year.

Data Source: Enrollment and exit data reported to UTREx.

Enrollment Trends = Current year October 1st count / Prior year October 1st count

Definition: A trajectory of October 1st enrollment and Average Daily Membership (ADM) derived from enrollment data reported to UTREx.

Data Source: Enrollment data reported to UTREx.

Definition: A comparison of a school’s end of year ADM to that school year’s October 1 counts. A significantly lower ADM compared to October 1 enrollment may negatively affect funding and could signal problems for a school to retain enrollment levels.

Data Source: Enrollment data reported to UTREx.

Finance Metric Details

Unrestricted Days Cash on Hand = (Cash + Cash Equivalent - Total Funds in Restricted Programs) x 365 / (Total Operating Expenses - Annual Depreciation Expense)

UDCOH ≥ 60 days

OR UDCOH is between 30 and 60 days with a positive increase from previous year

New LEAs: This will not be used in the Financial Framework Report for LEAs in their first two years of operations.

Does the school have the cash to pay bills?

Definition: How long, in days, the school could meet their operating expenses without receiving new income.

Data Source:
Cash and Cash Equivalents: statement of net position
Cash Equivalent: statement of net position
Total Operating Expenses: statement of activities
Annual Depreciation: notes to financial statements

Total Funds in Restricted Programs are restricted funds that are entered in to reflect the decrease in cash.

Finance Metric Details

Facility Ratio = (Operation and Maintenance of Facilities + Lease Payment + Debt Service) / Total Revenue

Debt Service = Annual Principal + Interest

Definition: Total operation and maintenance of facility.

Data Source:
Statement of Revenue, Expenditures, and Changes in Fund Balance – Governmental Funds.
Notes Section of the Audited Financials.

Finance Metric Details

Salaries and Benefits Ratio = (Total Salaries + Total Benefits) / Total Revenue

Definition: The total salaries and benefits to the total revenue.

Data Source:
Summary - All Funds

Finance Metric Details

Debt Service Coverage Ratio = (Change in Net Position + Depreciation + Interest Expense) / (Annual Principal + Interest + Lease Payment)

Is an LEA able to cover its debt obligations?

Definition: The ratio indicates a school's ability to cover its debt obligations in a current year.

Data Source:
AFS of public financial reporting download in October, Government wide

Finance Metric Details

Debt to Asset = Total Liabilities / Total Assets

To what extent does an LEA rely on borrowed funds to finance its operations?

Definition: The amount of liabilities a school owes versus the assets they own.

Data Source: AFS or public financial reporting download in October, Government wide

Finance Metric Details

Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities

Does the school have enough assets to meet its financial obligations over the next year?

Definition: Measures the school's ability to pay its obligations over the next 12 months. It shows how quickly short-term assets can be converted into cash to pay short-term liabilities.

Data Source: Statement of net position

Finance Metric Details

Cash Flow = Current year cash balance - last year cash balance

Does the LEA have a positive cash flow year over year?

Definition: The LEA's cash generated over a period of time indicating long-term financial stability.

Data Source: AFS or public financial reporting download in October, General Fund

Finance Metric Details

Total Margin = Change in Net Position/Total Revenue

Change in Net Position = Total Revenue - Total Expenses

3 year aggregated = Sum of 3 years' Change in Net Position/Sum of 3 years' Total Revenue

2 year aggregated = Sum of 2 years' Change in Net Position/Sum of 2 years' Total Revenue

most recent Total Margin > 0% and 3 year aggregated is positive

OR 3 year aggregated > -1.5% and the previous year is positive and most recent year is positive

Is the LEA living within its means?

Definition: Measures an LEA's deficit or surplus out of total revenues (Includes change in temporary restricted net assets)

Data Source: AFS or public financial reporting download in October.

Finance Metric Details

Deficit/Surplus (i.e. Change In Net Position) = Revenue - Expenses

Is the school living within its available resources?

Definition: Measures an LEA's deficit or surplus out of total revenues (Does not include temporary restricted net assets)

Data Source: Statement of Activities.

Enrollment/Finance Metric Details

Enrollment Variance = Current year enrollment/budgeted enrollment

Is the enrollment sufficient to cover expenses?

Definition: Measures an LEA's student enrollment to their budgeted (projected) enrollment.

Data Source: UCAP, OCT 1 student enrollment, projections

Finance Metric Details

Has the LEA defaulted on loan covenant(s) or is it delinquent with debt service payments?

Definition: Checks the LEA's responisibility towards loan covenants and debt service payments.

Data Source: AFS unless schools self reported

Finance Metric Details

Material Audit Findings: PASSED

Is the LEAs audit satisfactory?

Definition: Auditor finds the financial statements to be accurate and complete, without material weakness, significant deficiency, or other matters.

Data Source: AFS