Charter School Services

two girls from rose elementary sitting together on ball-chairs talking about their school work — Supporting charter schools and providing key oversight

The San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) ensures organizational efficiency by developing and administering oversight for the 11 SDCOE-authorized charter schools. The County Office also provides technical assistance and training to San Diego County charter schools and school districts related to charter school oversight, operations, and legal requirements.

View a list of charter schools in San Diego County. To search for a charter school by district, please use CDE's School Directory and choose the Advanced Search option.

Get in Touch

For general inquiries about services for charter schools and charter school district authorizers in San Diego County, please email charters@sdcoe.net.

COVID-19 Resources

Access SDCOE's COVID-19 resources — including resources specific to charter schools — on our COVID-19 website.

Visit SDCOE COVID-19 Website

More to Explore

Professional Development Opportunities and Resources

Explore current opportunities, or view the full charter schools services professional learning calendar.

Charter Business Network Meetings

Join the SDCOE Charter School Services team as we dive into finances, operations, and considerations for financial reporting. This will be an interactive opportunity to discuss finance and operations requirements, hear guidance on reporting deadlines, ask questions, and hear best practices from other San Diego County charter business / fiscal teams.

Upcoming Dates

All meetings will be held from 9 to 10:30 a.m.

Feb. 23 (Register to Attend)
May 4 (Register to Attend)

Charter Instructional Leader Meetings

These virtual meetings are designed to bring together charter instructional leaders across San Diego County. Charter schools are encouraged to have their leadership and staff attend.

Upcoming Dates

All meetings will be held from 9 to 10:30 a.m.

Charter Human Resources Leader Workshops

These virtual workshops will be from the lens of charter schools and the laws and provisions that charter schools fall under, as it relates to Human Resources. You’ll hear from SDCOE’s Human Resource Services, Credentialing, and Teacher Effectiveness and Preparation teams as they share the latest updates and opportunities for charter schools across San Diego County.

Upcoming Dates

Feb. 7 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. : Handling Difficult Conversations (Register to Attend)

Authorizer Connection Meetings

Authorizer Connection is a workshop series that began in 2019 for charter school authorizers and the staff that manage their district's charter school oversight. This year we are offering a three-part series in collaboration with the Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools and the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools.

Each workshop will focus on a specific agenda topic and will be an opportunity to bring together authorizers throughout the county and state to discuss the many facets of charter school oversight and the changing legislation that affects annual oversight obligations.

Upcoming Dates

All meetings will be held from 9 to 11 a.m.

Oct. 14: Annual Oversight Requirements

Annual Charter School Oversight (EC 47604.32) requires that the authorizer visit the charter one time per year. This workshop will provide tools and strategies to maximize the effectiveness of your site visits to ensure thorough oversight and support charter compliance with Independent Study regulations. Topics include: AB 181 and charter school Independent Study program oversight, classroom visits, student file reviews, leadership meetings, teacher/student/parent focus groups, and desk document reviews.

Feb. 10: Data Analysis and Student Academic Performance

Student demographic and academic indicators play a large role in determining charter school performance categories for renewal. Together, we will take a look at the California School Dashboard and the three performance level categories. We will also go through the definition of verified data, alternative data sources, Dashboard Alternative School Status Schools, and cover best practices for analyzing your charter school oversight data.

May 12: Charter School Renewal

The criteria for charter school renewals have changed substantially under Assembly Bill 1505. With CDE's recent extension of renewal periods, the best time to look at your district's charter school renewal process is now. This session will provide strategies to approach charter renewal as an authorizer, with an emphasis on low performing charter schools.

Professional Development - Archived Resources

San Diego County Charter Instructional Leader Meetings

2022-23 Archived presentations
- View the Oct. 12 presentation

Charter School Leader Human Resources Workshops

2022-23 Archived presentations
- Coming Soon!

Charter Business Network Meetings

2022-23 Archived presentations
- View the Nov. 3 presentation
- View the July 28 presentation

AUTHORIZER Connection Workshops

2022-23 Archived presentations
- View the Oct. 14 presentation

2022-23 Charter Legislative Update

2022-23 Archived presentations
- View the Nov. 9 workbook

Please note that these archived presentations will be posted through the current fiscal year.

Charter School Authorizer Resources

Budget Interim Reporting

2021-22 Charter Unaudited Actual Review Template (.xlsx) (Coming Soon!)
2022-23 Adopted Budget Review Template (.xlsx)
2022-23 Interim Review Template (Coming Soon!)
SAMPLE Financial Reporting Template (.xlsx)
SAMPLE Charter Debt Disclosure Form (.docx)
Multi-Year Unaudited Actual Comparison (.xlsx)

In-Lieu Property Taxes

Template Oversight Documents

Other Charter Authorizer Resources

Charter School Resources

Finance Information, Independent Auditor Selection, and County Treasury Guide

Additional Information and Resources

California Department of Education (CDE) - Charter School Division
California Public School Directory (CDE)
Charter School Locator (CDE)
Charter School General Information (CDE)
Charter School Resources (CDE)
Frequently Asked Questions about Charter Schools (CDE)
Legislation Impacting Charters (CDE)

Charter Petition Submissions

Charter Renewal Petitions

Charter Petition Appeals

Countywide Benefit Petitions

Additional Resources

Current Charter Petitions - Pending Reviews

Charter Petition	Initial Public Hearing Date	Second Public Hearing and Board Action Date	Link to Staff Report
No petitions in review at this time	N/A	N/A	N/A

Staff reports will be posted 15 days before the San Diego County Board of Education action meeting, at 3 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Please direct questions to charters@sdcoe.net.

San Diego County Charter School LCAP Submissions

Education Code Section 47604.33 requires charter schools to submit a Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) to their chartering agencies and the county superintendent of schools on or before July 1 of each year.

Beginning in 2022, all charter schools operating in San Diego County will upload their board-approved LCAP as a single PDF document to SDCOE Charter School Services on or before July 1 via an online form. All countywide charter schools and district authorizers received the 2022-23 LCAP form link via email in April 2022.

For the 2022-23 charter school LCAP submissions, the single PDF document must contain the following information:

LCFF Budget Overview for Parents
2022-23 LCAP
Supplement to the Annual Update of the 2021-22 LCAP
Plan Summary
Engaging Educational Partners
Goals and Actions
Increased or Improved Services for Foster Youth, English Learners, and Low-Income Students
Action Tables
Instructions

All 2022-23 charter school LCAPs submitted to SDCOE can be found in the SDCOE School Finder's Charter Directory.

Note: The form link for the 2023-24 LCAP submissions will be emailed out to all San Diego County charter schools and district authorizers in April 2023.

Please note, for San Diego County charter schools the online submission replaces the previous submission to finrep@sdcoe.net. Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the submission of a charter school LCAP please contact charters@sdcoe.net.

Charter School ADA Reports

Student Records Requests

Please note, individuals requesting transcripts and school records should contact the school of attendance from which the records are needed. Please reference the California Department of Education's school directory to search for your school's contact information.

Q: What if my charter school has closed?

A: Each school should have a designated person from the charter school that could be contacted after closure. In some cases, the charter's authorizing district may have received copies of the student records from the closed charter school. This would typically be designated during the school's closing procedures. California Education Code Section 47605(c)(5)(O) requires each charter to contain a description of the procedures for maintenance and transfer of pupil records including what happens to those records if the school closes.

Have questions?

Email charters@sdcoe.net