91Èȱ¬

Your charter school’s preliminary 2020–2021 Charter Financial Integrity Rating System of Texas (FIRST) rating is now available online. To access your charter school’s Charter FIRST rating:Ìý

• access the 91Èȱ¬ website by using this linkÌý/;
• click the Finance and Grants webpage tab linkÌý/finance-and-grants;
• click the Financial Compliance linkÌý/finance-and-grants/financial-compliance;
• click theÌýFinancial Integrity Rating System of TexasÌýlink;
• click the Charter FIRST Ratings link forÌýOpen-Enrollment Charter Schools and Charter Schools Operated by a Public Institution of Higher Education; andÌý
• click the 2011—2012 and newer Charter School - Financial Accountability (Select Year from Dropdown) Ratings link.Ìý

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Basis for Charter FIRST RatingÌý

Your charter school’s rating is based on an analysis of the charter school’s financial data for fiscal year 2020 (the fiscal period ended June 30, 2020, or August 31, 2020, depending on the ending date of your charter school’s fiscal year). We determined your charter school’s rating using the financial indicators specified inÌýÌýorÌý, depending upon the type of charter school operated.Ìý

Please carefully review your charter school’s preliminary Charter FIRST rating and the data associated with each of the 21 indicators.Ìý

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Opportunity for AppealÌý

If your charter school wishes to appeal an adverse issue it identifies in the preliminary rating, your charter school may submit a written appeal with supporting evidence to the 91Èȱ¬ Financial Compliance Division.ÌýFor the appeal to be considered, it must be received byÌýSeptember 8, 2021. Send your appeal and supporting documentation to the following email address:ÌýFinancialAccountability@tea.texas.gov.

Please note, all appeal requests, including supporting documentation, must be submitted via email toÌýFinancialAccountability@tea.texas.govÌýon or before September 8, 2021. Appeals and supporting documentation that are not submitted to the Financial Accountability email address by the required deadline will not be considered or processed.

Please seeÌýÌýfor the rules regarding the filing of an appeal.ÌýAs stated in that section, only an appeal that would result in a change to your charter school’s rating will be considered.ÌýIf no appeal is submitted by your charter school, your charter school's preliminary rating becomes final on the 31st day after the preliminary ratings are released (September 9, 2021).Ìý

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Final Charter FIRST Rating and Required Reporting

Final ratings will be issued to charter schools after all of the appeals submitted by the deadline have been reviewed. Final 2020–2021 Charter FIRST ratings are anticipated to be released in November 2021.ÌýÌý

Within two months of the release of your charter school's final Charter FIRST rating, your charter school must announce and hold a public meeting to distribute a financial management report that explains the charter school’s rating and its performance under each indicator for the current and previous year’s ratings.

The report also must provide the financial information described inÌý. We encourage your charter school to include in the report additional information that will be beneficial to stakeholders, especially information explaining any special circumstances that may have affected the charter school’s performance under one or more of the indicators.Ìý

A required newspaper notice, to inform taxpayers of the meeting, must be published no more than 30 days and no fewer than 10 days before the public meeting. Your charter school may combine the meeting with a regularly scheduled meeting of your charter school’s governing board.Ìý

For full requirements related to the financial management report and public meeting, seeÌý. For a template that your charter school can use in developing its financial management report, see the 91Èȱ¬ÌýCharter FIRSTÌýweb page.Ìý

To access additional rules concerning financial accountability ratings, please seeÌý.

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Accreditation StatusÌý

Please note that the 91Èȱ¬ considers a charter school’s Charter FIRST rating when assigning an accreditation status, as required by the accreditation status rules inÌý.Ìý

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Contact for Further InformationÌý

If you have questions about your charter school’s Charter FIRST rating, please contact Robin Aldridge at (512) 463-3940 or by email atÌýRobin.Aldridge@tea.texas.gov.

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