Charter School Facility
Refinancing Guide
In 2018, a consortium of partners came together around Idaho’s Communities of Excellence federal Charter School Program (CSP) grant to lead and accelerate the expansion of high-quality charter schools across the state. Bluum serves as project lead for the consortium and is joined in this work by the Idaho Public Charter School Commission, the Idaho State Board of Education, the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation and Building Hope.
As part of our shared commitment under the Communities of Excellence grant to provide “high quality technical assistance” and “share best practices” to CSP subgrantee schools, Bluum issued an RFP for a “first-class charter schools facilities refinancing guide.” The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (National Alliance) Charter School Facility Center was awarded the competitive contract for the refinancing guide.
The project began with a peer-reviewed guide and toolkit, authored by Elise Balboni, will be a valuable asset for not only charter schools in Idaho, but other schools across the country that are in the process of financing or refinancing their charter school facilities.
It is our sincere hope these will help schools maximize every dollar spent on facilities so they can spend more in the classroom with their students.
LEARN MORE ABOUT REFINANCING
How To Refinance Your Charter School Facility
by Elise Balboni
Refinancing charter school facilities debt is characterized by many of the same challenges facing charter school operators in initially securing financing for their facilities, including lack of taxing authority, limited public capital funds to pay for facilities, and inequities in operating funding.
Moreover, charter schools are educational institutions, often lacking real estate development and finance capacity. Yet, unlike traditional public schools, charter schools are tasked with developing and financing their facilities from these discounted public funding sources. These challenges comprise the facilities burden for charter schools. This guide, and the toolkit below, are designed to help you save money by refinancing your school building.
TRY THE TOOLKIT
Use This Toolkit to Run Your Numbers
This toolkit will help you gather and organize all the information you need to help you spend more money in the classroom, not on the classroom. It covers everything from assembling your team, a due diligence checklist, detailed pro formas, a cash flow projection, and more!
Still have questions? Contact the facilitycenter@publiccharters.org or info@bluum.org. You can also join the LinkedIn group!
♦ 100% ($115,000.00) of this project was funded by Federal CSP Grant dollars; 0% ($0.00) of this report/event is funded by non-governmental sources; total cost $115,000.00.
ABOUT THE FEDERAL CHARTER SCHOOL PROGRAM
Authorized by title V, part B, subpart 1 of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, Public Law 114-95), which reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), the federal Charter School Program (CSP) provides funding to State Entities with the purpose “to expand opportunities for all students, particularly traditionally underserved students, to attend public charter schools and meet challenging State academic standards; provide financial assistance for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of charter schools; increase the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the United States; evaluate the impact of charter schools on student achievement, families, and communities; share best practices between charter schools and other public schools; encourage States to provide facilities support to charter schools; and support efforts to strengthen the charter school authorizing process.”