Fiscal Tools

Local Control Funding Formula Resources for School Districts and Charter Schools

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Calculator for school districts and charter schools has been produced based on information currently available to the development working group, FCMAT, and our colleagues in the California Department of Education. 

The LCFF Announcement email list is FCMAT's primary communication tool for sharing information about updates or other material revisions to the school district and charter school LCFF Calculator.

The Online Help Desk is intended to provide users with direct support for questions pertaining to the Local Control Funding Formula and and the school district and charter school LCFF Calculator.

Links to the CDE's Principal Apportionment and Special Education certified data exhibits and other resources are offered to provide users convenient access to the supporting certified data. Users should independently verify prepopulated data in the school district and charter school LCFF Calculator from the Principal Apportionment Section certified data exhibits. If any inconsistencies are noted, please report them directly to FCMAT using our help desk.

FCMAT extends great appreciation to each member of the school district and charter school LCFF Calculator development team for their contributions and commitment to ensuring the quality of this tool. This includes administrative staff of the Marin and El Dorado county offices of education. Further appreciation is extended to numerous members and support staff of the Business and Administration Steering Committees (BASC), the External Services Subcommittee of the BASC, the California Department of Finance, and the administration and staff of the California Department of Education for their continued support and collaborative partnership in the development of the LCFF Calculator.

 

FAQs

Click an FAQ to open the container and view the answer.

Additional Resources

LCFF Calculator — Modeling Version (mv23.1b)

See notes below under Current Version for a description of the original modeling version of the LCFF Calculator.

California Department of Education (CDE)
 The state agency responsible for allocating LCFF funding.

Principal Apportionment Exhibits

Education Protection Account

Local Control Funding Formula Overview

Current Version:

Versions 23.1a and mv23.1b:  Release date: April 18, 2022

Version 23.1a of the LCFF Calculator (see icon link at the top of this page), and modeling version mv23.1b of the LCFF Calculator (see "Additional Resources" above) are now available.

In these versions, cells I13 through N13 of the Data Entry tab have been unprotected to allow modification of the Concentration Grant funding rate. This optional update is required to create alternative scenarios related to changes in the concentration grant funding rate. 

Users should review the Caveats and Instructions tabs in each version prior to use.


Prior Versions:

Version mv23.1a: Release date: April 11, 2022

Version mv23.1a of the modeling LCFF Calculator is now available with the following minor revisions:

  • Data Entry tab - Charter school ADA section: corrected historical year prepopulated data lookup in cell A18, line reference B-1 inadvertently deleted in original version. This impacts all charter school calculations.
  • Summary tab - Summary of Funding section: revised total in cells E18:I18 to include the additional for TK Add-on row 17.

Versions 23.1 and mv23.1:  Release date: April 8, 2022

Version 23.1 of the LCFF Calculator (see icon link at the top of this page), and modeling version mv23.1 of the LCFF Calculator (see "Additional Resources" above) are now available. 

Methods for calculations in the standard version of the LCFF Calculator remain unchanged and follow existing law.

The modeling version of the LCFF Calculator has been revised to include changes in funding estimates based on changes presented in the governor's 2022-23 proposed budget, including the following:

  • Transitional Kindergarten (TK) add-on: $2,813 per the greater of current year or prior year TK average daily attendance (ADA), adjusted for cost of living adjustment (COLA) in each subsequent fiscal year, beginning in 2022-23 for all local educational agency types.
  • The addition of three prior-year ADA criteria for funding determination (school district calculations only).

Note: Because of the complexities of the calculator's functions, the modeling version has not yet been revised to include the three prior-year average criteria to necessary small school (NSS) calculations. Funding calculations for NSS continue to be calculated based on the greater of current or prior year ADA. 

Both tools have been updated to prepopulate with the following data and assumptions:

  • Certified by the Department of Education as of 2021-22 second quarter released in February 2022, including 2021-22 (P1), 2020-21 (AN) and 2019-20 (AN R2).
  • COLA as presented in the governor's 2022-23 budget proposal
  • 2021-22 estimated education protection account (EPA) entitlement as a percentage of statewide adjusted revenue limit as of February 18, 2022: 49.17914663%.


22-23 23-24 24-25 25-26 26-27
LCFF Funded COLA 5.33% 3.61% 3.64% 3.62% 3.58%
Statutory COLA (as calculated by the Department of Finance) 5.33% 3.61% 3.64% 3.62% 3.58%
Augmentation (21-22 compounded COLA) 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%

Users should review the Caveats and Instructions tabs in each version prior to use.

Users should review the Caveats and Instructions tabs in each version prior to use.