Question: Problem of charging off "project generated" facilities to projects. If we're housing a resource teacher in a portable that costs us $4000 a year, can we charge it straight onto projects? Or are we limited by the square footage of the school site and then taking a fraction thereof of utilities and other site expenses?

Response: Procedure number 702 of the California School Accounting Manual recognizes that lease and rental payments for facilities shall be distributed as direct support charges. In some cases you are able to use documented direct support costs in order to charge the expense to the special education program. Review this section of the accounting manual.

When the district makes an administrative decision to provide a separate classroom space it may not qualify for the documented direct support method. The key for the method is for costs of renting or leasing a facility required by state or federal agencies for programmatic purposes on a site where no agency-owned facilities are located. We do not believe your resource teacher classroom qualifies based on the information you have provided.