Utah State Charter School Board

CHARTER APPLICATIONS

The Utah State Charter School Board (SCSB) is a charter authorizer approved by the Utah State Legislature to bring charter schools into existence. Authorizers set up application processes and make decisions on new charter school applications.

ARE YOU CURRENTLY APPLYING FOR A NEW CHARTER SCHOOL?

Go to Proposal Phase

Go to Application Phase (After Proposal)

EXPANSIONS AND SATELLITES

Is your school looking to expand? Expansion means a proposed increase of students and/or changing the grade your school serves. A small expansion is for fifty or fewer students, would not necessitate renovation, and is for no more than one additional grade. A satellite school refers to a charter school affiliated with an operating charter school. It shares the same charter school governing board and a similar program of instruction but possesses a different school number than the affiliated charter school.

Applications will be presented during the August SCSB Board Meeting.

Applications will be presented during the January SCSB Board Meeting.

ONLINE/HYBRID LEARNING APPLICATION

The SCSB is happy to share our new Online/Hybrid Application! For assistance, please contact Betty Jimenez.

Applications will be presented during the June SCSB Board Meeting.

TIMELINE FOR THE APPLICATION

May 4, 2026

Applications posted and noticed

May 8, 2026

Info Session (End of Director's Meeting)

May 11 – 29, 2026

Technical Assistance Available

June 5, 2026

Submission Deadline

June 18, 2026

Board Approval Meeting

ARTICULATION AGREEMENTS

The purpose of the Articulation Agreement Request is to provide a process for charter school governing boards to request an articulation agreement with each other. The Articulation Agreement is based on UCA§53G-6-502 which permits a charter school to give an enrollment preference to a student articulating from one charter school to another pursuant to an articulation agreement between the charter schools that is approved by the State Charter School Board.

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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 LEA have the cash to pay bills?

Definition: How long, in days, the LEA could meet their operating expenses without receiving new cash inflow.

Data Source:
Cash and Cash Equivalents: statement of net position
Restricted Cash: 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 + Lease Payment) / (Annual Principal + Interest + Lease Payment)

Is an LEA able to cover its debt obligations?

Definition: The ratio indicates a LEA'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 LEA 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 LEA have enough assets to meet its financial obligations over the next year?

Definition: Measures the LEA'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

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

Data Source: The Statement of Activities.

Finance Metric Details

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

Is the LEA living within its available resources?

Definition: Measures an LEA's deficit or surplus out of total revenues

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 LEAs 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