LAUSD updates Prop 39 colocation process; staff reports 37 requests and 16 alternative agreements in 2026–27 cycle

Jeanette Borden, charter schools operations manager, told the Charter Schools Committee that the district received 37 Prop 39 facilities requests for the 2026–27 school year and is finalizing allocations and alternative agreements ahead of statutory deadlines.

Borden said 33 requests remain active after one withdrawal and three denials for ineligibility or legal insufficiency; those 33 requests produce 41 proposed colocations because eight charter operators would be multisite. "We issued 18 preliminary proposals on February 1," she said, and staff are preparing the legally binding final offers that the district must send by April 1.

Why it matters: Prop 39 requires school districts to offer reasonably equivalent facilities to charter schools when space is available, using average daily attendance (ADA) projections as the allocation basis. Borden said the process includes an opportunity for charters to respond to preliminary offers (by March 1) and then to accept or decline final offers by May 1. Charters that accept may take occupancy 10 working days before their first day of instruction.

A central topic at the meeting was the district's use of "alternative agreements," which Borden defined as mutually negotiated departures from the standard Prop 39 regulatory timeline permitted by California Department of Education regulations. "These only happen when both parties agree," she said, describing alternative agreements as tools to, for example, avoid a multisite placement that a charter school prefers not to operate.

Borden provided a portfolio breakdown: roughly 90% of the proposed colocations are existing colocations; of the existing allocations, 18 would remain the same, 11 would grow and 8 would shrink. She cautioned these numbers could change as regions continue to evaluate additional alternative agreements and site-specific reconfigurations.

On transparency and documentation, Borden said the Charter Schools Division's website (charter.lausd.org) now hosts a Prop 39 information clearinghouse with submitted facilities requests, preliminary proposals, final offers (when issued), and any fully executed alternative agreements.

Board members asked detailed follow-up questions. Committee member Ortiz Franklin asked whether LACOE-authorized charters that serve LAUSD students are included; Borden replied such charters are eligible and processed in the same manner and offered to provide a districtwide count and a District 7 breakdown on request. When asked about operational challenges, Borden emphasized that "communication" among colocated administrators, region operations and CSD is the most important best practice to prevent day-to-day problems from escalating.

Borden also reviewed the overallocation mechanism, which adjusts reimbursements if a charter's ADA projections materially miss actual ADA; she reported that for 2024–25 the district determined 12 charters were overallocated and collected total reimbursements of $1,060,400 that were redirected to host sites per district policy. Any overallocations for 2025–26 will be invoiced by August 15, 2026, with redirected funds expected in January 2027.

What's next: Final, legally binding offers are scheduled to be sent by April 1; charters must respond by May 1 or the offer expires. Staff will host an operations meeting in May for colocated principals to review shared-use agreements, safe-school integration, and operational planning ahead of occupancy.

Sources: Presentation and Q&A with Jeanette Borden at the LAUSD Charter Schools Committee meeting.