Principal Apportionment

The Special Education (aka AB 602) Principal Apportionment includes revenue for the Base Grant Funding, Program Specialist/Regionalized Services, Low Incidence, Out-of-Home Care, and Extraordinary Cost Pool. This revenue is bundled as a single amount.

The Principal Apportionment is a series of apportionment calculations that adjust the flow of state funds throughout the fiscal year as information becomes known. The series are as follows:

  1. Advance Principal Apportionment is calculated by July 20 for payments from July through January. 
  2. First Principal Apportionment (P-1) is calculated by February 20 for payments from February through May.
  3. Second Principal Apportionment (P-2) is calculated by June 25 for the payment in June. 
  4. Annual Certification (Annual) is calculated by February of the the following year.  
  5. Annual First Recertification (R-1) is calculated by June 25 of the following year. 
  6. Annual Second Recertification (R-2) is calculated by February 20 of the second following year. 
  7. Annual Third Recertification (R-3) is calculated by June 20 of the second following year. 
Payments During the Fiscal Year

Payments for the Advance, First, and Second Principal Apportionments occur from July through June of the fiscal year, and in a proportionate amount provided here.  

Payments After the Fiscal Year

Payments for the Annual Certification and Recertifications occur as part of the Adjustments and Prior Year Recomputations. 

Changes to the allocation amounts may be due to several factors: 

  • Updates to the SELPA's special education property tax: If the SELPA's property tax amount increases, then the AB 602 net funding will decrease by the same amount. The same is true if the tax decreases, with a dollar-for-dollar change to the State AB 602 amount. 
  • Updates to CDE's proration factor: Although the SELPA funding is calculated based upon a rate, funding availability may cause a proration of its entitlement. If the proration factor is 0.98, the SELPA will receive 98% of its calculated entitlement. A change in the proration factor may cause an adjustment. Find more information here. 
  • Updates to LEA census data: AB 602 funding is calculated, in part, upon the SELPA's AB 602 average daily attendance (ADA). Any change in ADA may create an adjustment. 

Did you know...

The Principal Apportionment is a great way for CDE to provide the funding beginning in July, even though much of the data used to determine the exact amount isn't available until later in the year. 

For example, Base Grant Funding is determined from the current year's ADA. However, that won't be available until February! The Principal Apportionment starts with an estimate that is paid from July through January.