About UCAP - Utah Charter Access Point

Utah Charter Access Point is a web application used to provide oversight for charters authorized by the Utah State Charter School Board.

The Utah State Charter School Board (SCSB) ensures that charter schools meet the state's standards for academic achievement, fiscal responsibility, and legal compliance. The SCSB also gives technical assistance and conducts regular evaluations.

How UCAP assists the SCSB:

Provides a directory of Utah Charters.
Locates documents for SCSB Board Meetings.
Communicates with UCAP users.
Supplies oversight tools.
Allows the public to submit issues with a charter.
Holds important documents.
Gives informative reports.
Plans mentoring and training to charter leadership.

Utah Charter Access Point

Who uses UCAP?

UCAP is intended for charter leadership. It is used by the SCSB and staff, USBE staff, board members and directors of charters authorized by the SCSB, and some charter staff/business managers.

How do I get access into UCAP?

The LEA is responsible in managing who has access to UCAP for their own LEA or school(s). Any individual designated to manage users may do this. SCSB staff recommends limiting user management to only the board chair and director. UCAP is often used to find charter contact information so keeping the most up-to-date information is best.

If you need a UCAP user account and you are associated with an LEA, please contact your board chair or director.

Charter student art created by Mia McDonald.

Charter student art created by Jenn Dabb.

Where does UCAP get its data?

Data comes from mainly 3 sources: CACTUS provides LEA/school information. UTREx provides data for enrollment counts, demographics, retention and transfer rates. UCAP data includes finances, school profiles, oversight and uploaded documents.

UCAP Specifications

The system incorporates the following languages and frameworks:

HTML5 / C# / CSHTML / jQuery 3.X + plugins / Entity Framework 6.X / Bootstrap 5 – using customized Bootstrap / MICROSOFT ASP.NET FRAMEWORK 4.8 / MVC5 / ASP Identity 2.X / Chart.js 3.X / Hangfire / MICROSOFT SQL SERVER / MICROSOFT VISUAL STUDIO

It is the intent that UCAP will work well with the current stable releases of Google Chrome (recommended), Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Web browsers that are fully compatible with these browsers and older versions of these browsers may also be suitable, but UCAP is not designed, maintained, or tested for browsers that are not listed above. The web browser requires support of Javascript, external links opening in new window or tab, and to accept session-based cookies. By default, the major web browsers are configured to handle these requirements.

McDonald, Mia. Tree landscape. 2023, solid temperas and sharpies. North Star Academy, Utah.

Cornelius, Josiah. Perspective landscape. 2023, markers and Prismacolor colored pencils. Promontory School of Expeditionary Learning, Utah.

UCAP Support

For all support and technical questions please contact the following individuals:

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Marlene Ruff

UCAP Project Manager

marlene.ruff@schools.utah.gov

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Amber Hellstrom

UCAP Developer

amber.hellstrom@schools.utah.gov

Target: ≤ %

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.

Target: ≥ %

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.

Target: ≥ % of prior year October 1st enrollment count

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.

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

Target:

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 assessment of 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.

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

Debt Service = Annual Principal + Interest

Target: ≤ 24%

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.

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

Target: ≥ 1.1

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

Debt to Asset = Total Liabilities / Total Assets

Target: ≤ 0.9

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

Current Ratio = Current Assets / Current Liabilities

Target: Current ratio ≥ 1

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

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

Target: Cash Flow > $0

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

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

Target:

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.

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

Target: Surplus/Revenue > $0

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 Variance = Current year enrollment/budgeted enrollment

Target: Enrollment variance >= 95%

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

Target: The LEA has not defaulted on loan covenant(s) or is not delinquent with debt service payments

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

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