State board allocates one-time charter funds; $200,560 set for large charters, targeted increases for smallest schools

The Utah State Board of Education voted unanimously to allocate one-time legislative funds for charter schools, awarding $200,560 to each charter with more than 2,000 students and directing the remainder to raise base funding for schools with fewer than 2,000 students, including an amendment that guarantees up to $85,000 for schools with fewer than 500 students.

Board members and staff described the vote at the board’s meeting during the discussion of agenda item 6, an unfinished business item carried forward from the previous agenda. Dale Frost, minimum school program administrator, explained the legislative estimates and the statutory formula that determine charter school allocations and presented three distribution options that the board could choose from.

The board’s action follows the fiscal-year methodology debate and a short staff presentation explaining that the Legislature appropriated $3,600,000 for this one-time…