(a) In accordance with subdivision (a) of section 47602 of the Education Code, the California Department of Education (CDE), on behalf of the SBE, shall establish and administer a numbering system to track the total number of charter schools authorized to operate in the state, based on the chronological order of the receipt of a complete charter petition and notification of charter approval by a local educational agency (LEA) or, in the case of a charter petition approved by the SBE, the date and time of the SBE's approval.

(b) When the SBE approves a charter petition or receives notice that a charter petition has been approved by a LEA, the SBE shall assign a number to that charter petition in accordance with section 47602(a)(1) of the Education Code.