Data: where charter homeschool money goes
Four things we measured from public records for the charters that serve San Diego families. Every number links to its source, and every file is free to download.
1. How big is the instructional-fund pool? About $148.2M a year (upper bound)
We multiplied each charter's 2025-26 cumulative enrollment (California Department of Education) by the per-student instructional fund amount the school publishes (or our labeled estimate). Across the 15 charter programs, that comes to an upper bound of about $148.2M a year.
| School (CDE record) | County of record | Cumulative enrollment 2025-26 | Change vs 2024-25 | Per student used | Amount label | Upper-bound pool |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pacific Coast Academy | San Diego | 8,719 | 22.2% | $3,800 | official-old 2024-25 TK-8 | $33.1M |
| Mission Vista Academy | Riverside | 8,223 | 16.8% | $4,000 | official 2026-27 | $32.9M |
| Cabrillo Point Academy | San Diego | 7,035 | 14.3% | $4,000 | official 2026-27 TK-8 | $28.1M |
| Sage Oak Charter | San Bernardino | 4,467 | 7.7% | $3,500 | conflict midpoint | $15.6M |
| Elite Academic Academy - Lucerne | San Bernardino | 3,008 | 16.7% | $3,300 | official-old 2025-26 TK-8 | $9.9M |
| Suncoast Preparatory Academy | Orange | 2,059 | 30.6% | $3,800 | official | $7.8M |
| Elite Academic Academy - Mountain Empire | San Diego | 1,851 | 2.6% | $3,300 | official-old 2025-26 TK-8 | $6.1M |
| Excel Academy Charter | San Diego | 1,223 | 6.7% | $3,400 | official 2026-27 | $4.2M |
| Excel Academy Charter | San Bernardino | 885 | 21.4% | $3,400 | official 2026-27 | $3.0M |
| Sage Oak Charter School - South | San Diego | 755 | 22.6% | $3,500 | conflict midpoint | $2.6M |
| Compass Charter Schools of San Diego | San Diego | 737 | -26.4% | $3,000 | estimate K-8 | $2.2M |
| Pacific Springs Charter | San Diego | 727 | 32.4% | $1,250 | official 2026-27 | $908,750 |
| Sparrow Academy | San Diego | 198 | 7.0% | $3,500 | official | $693,000 |
| Harbor Springs Charter | San Diego | 461 | 30.6% | $1,250 | official 2026-27 | $576,250 |
| Vista Springs Charter | San Diego | 272 | -2.5% | $1,250 | official 2026-27 | $340,000 |
| Julian Charter | San Diego | 272 | 12.9% | — | EUs not $ | not estimated |
| Dimensions Collaborative | San Diego | 623 | -1.4% | — | no per-child $ | not estimated |
| Literacy First Charter | San Diego | 2,142 | -0.4% | — | not published; includes classroom programs | not estimated |
Sources: CDE Cumulative Enrollment data files (2024-25 and 2025-26, school level, all students). Per-student amounts and labels: Compare charters and charter-funds.csv. Checked 2026-10-23.
Download: charter-fund-pool-estimate.csv
2. Where one charter's funds went for a full year: Sage Oak, 2025-26
Sage Oak Charter Schools gave us its full 2025-26 instructional-fund ledger (July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026) under the California Public Records Act. It covers the two accounts families' funds are paid from: Instructional Funds – Services and Instructional Funds – Materials.
- $12.18M paid in the year, in 46,443 payments to 1,193 different payees.
- 59% paid for services (classes, lessons, tutoring, programs: $7.18M to 1,032 payees) and 41% for materials (curriculum, books, supplies: $5.00M to 175 payees).
- Most payees are small. The typical (median) payee received about $2,990 for the whole year, and 755 of 1,193 (63%) received under $5,000.
- Materials money is concentrated. The single largest payee, a national online retailer, received 15% of all funds (38% of materials). The top 10 payees received 33%.
- Spending follows the school year. Very little goes out in July and August. It peaks in October and again in May; March to May alone is 39% of the year.
By month
| Month (posted) | Services | Materials | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2025 | $5,404 | $3,646 | $9,050 |
| Aug 2025 | $7,028 | $383,481 | $390,509 |
| Sep 2025 | $342,321 | $790,205 | $1.13M |
| Oct 2025 | $879,172 | $831,966 | $1.71M |
| Nov 2025 | $586,293 | $165,458 | $751,752 |
| Dec 2025 | $809,668 | $241,965 | $1.05M |
| Jan 2026 | $654,322 | $253,727 | $908,049 |
| Feb 2026 | $719,422 | $430,925 | $1.15M |
| Mar 2026 | $928,710 | $432,067 | $1.36M |
| Apr 2026 | $773,593 | $744,310 | $1.52M |
| May 2026 | $1.30M | $584,113 | $1.88M |
| Jun 2026 | $175,551 | $135,804 | $311,355 |
| Year | $7.18M | $5.00M | $12.18M |
How much each payee received in the year
| Paid in 2025-26 | Payees | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under $1,000 | 283 | $142,644 | 1.2% |
| $1,000–$4,999 | 472 | $1.21M | 9.9% |
| $5,000–$24,999 | 368 | $3.83M | 31.4% |
| $25,000–$99,999 | 56 | $2.51M | 20.6% |
| $100,000 or more | 14 | $4.49M | 36.9% |
Source: Sage Oak Charter Schools, General Ledger report, accounts 4381 and 5881, July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026, provided to us on November 2, 2026 in response to a California Public Records Act request. Totals are our own calculations from that file. Checked 2026-11-03.
Download: sageoak-2025-26-by-month.csv · sageoak-2025-26-payee-size-bands.csv
3. Where another charter's funds went: Excel Academy
Excel Academy Charter Schools (Warner and Helendale) post their monthly check registers in public board packets. We parsed 7 registers (roughly June 2025 to May 2026, with gaps, so this isn't a full year) and kept only payments coded to Instructional Funds.
- $2.3M paid to 754 different payees.
- One national online retailer received $323,905, about 14% (roughly 1 in 7 dollars). The top 10 payees received 40%.
- About half went to classes and services (instructional vendors). Most of the rest went to curriculum and supplies.
- 158 individual tutors and teachers were paid $308,865 in total. We don't publish their names.
By category
| Category (school's GL account) | Paid | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Instructional vendors (classes & services) | $1.1M | 49.7% |
| Textbooks & core curriculum | $724,566 | 31.9% |
| Materials & Supplies | $392,643 | 17.3% |
| Field Trips | $27,648 | 1.2% |
Source: Excel Academy Charter Schools public board documents, BoardOnTrack public portal. Check register attachment IDs: 422078, 422076, 422077, 433684, 453807, 460827, 486845. Checked 2026-10-23.
Download: excel-instructional-spend-by-category.csv
4. Vendor lists change fast: about 1 in 4 is new each year
Seven charters use the same public vendor-search system (OPS), and last year's 2024-25 lists are still online next to this year's. We compared the San Diego County vendors on both.
| Charter | SD County vendors, 2025-26 | New since 2024-25 | On 2024-25 SD list, not on 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sage Oak | 678 | 155 (22.9%) | 20 |
| Suncoast | 315 | 27 (8.6%) | 61 |
| Elite Academic Academy | 142 | 50 (35.2%) | 23 |
| Excel Academy | 108 | 27 (25.0%) | 32 |
| Compass Charter Schools | 59 | 16 (27.1%) | 17 |
| BEST Academy | 50 | 11 (22.0%) | 1 |
At five of these charters, 22–35% of San Diego vendors are new this year, and dozens of last year's dropped off. (Suncoast changed less: 9% new.) A vendor list more than a year old is noticeably out of date, which is why every listing here shows a "last checked" date.
Sources: OPS public vendor search for each charter, e.g. Excel 2024-25 and Excel 2025-26; the same pattern holds for best, compass, sageoak, elite and suncoast. Checked 2026-10-23.
Download: vendor-turnover-2025-vs-2026.csv
All downloads
- charter-fund-pool-estimate.csv: enrollment × per-student amount, upper bound
- sageoak-2025-26-by-month.csv · sageoak-2025-26-payee-size-bands.csv: Sage Oak 2025-26 totals (public records request)
- excel-instructional-spend-by-category.csv
- vendor-turnover-2025-vs-2026.csv
- charter-funds.csv: per-student amounts with labels and sources
- vendor-charter-links.csv: which charter confirms which vendor, with source links
- listings-all-fields.csv · private-schools-san-diego.csv
You're welcome to reuse these files with a link back to this page. Found an error? Tell us.