SONOMA COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION
SCOE BIZ
Business Services
Bulletin No. 16-02 August 2015
August 28, 2015
To: District/Charter Business Services
From: Judy Thomson, Director Fiscal Services
State of the State
According to the State Controller’s Office, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, total revenues for the General Fund (the source of most state spending) were $6.8 billion more than anticipated a year ago, when the 2014-15 budget was enacted. This was 6.4 percent higher than projected. Compared to the previous fiscal year, California revenues were $12.7 billion higher, a bump of 12.5 percent.
For the entire 2014-15 fiscal year that ended June 30, personal income tax led the surge, accounting for $5.8 billion of the $6.8 billion windfall, compared to 2014-15 budget estimates. Corporation taxes beat projections by $1.6 billion, while retail sales and use taxes for the year came in $395.9 million lower than expected.
Of the $12.7 billion revenue increase over the previous year, $10.1 billion, or 80 percent, consisted of personal income taxes. California’s high revenue volatility is tied to swings in personal income tax, especially on capital gains.
July remains on track with the budget forecast. The Department of Finance (DOF) reports in its latest Finance Bulletin (August 2015) that revenues exceeded the forecast by $41 million, or 0.6%, for July.
The State’s unemployment rate, while still exceeding the national average, fell 0.1% to 6.3%. The U.S. unemployment rate was 5.3% in July.
Recently, there has been global stock market turbulence originating from concerns regarding China’s economy.
Instructional Materials Public Hearing Requirements for Fiscal Year 2015-16
Education Code Section 60119 requires that local governing boards hold an annual public hearing on or before the end of the eighth week from the first day pupils attend classes and adopt a resolution (DOC) stating whether each pupil in the LEA has sufficient textbooks or instructional materials. This public hearing and resolution are required annually. LEAs should keep the resolution on file for the LEA’s annual audit.
EC Section 60119(c)(1) states that sufficient textbooks or instructional materials means, "each pupil, including English Learners, has a standards-aligned textbook or instructional materials, or both, to use in class and to take home. This paragraph does not require two sets of textbooks or instructional materials for each pupil." This specifically applies to four subject areas: reading/language arts, mathematics, science, and history-social science.
For more detailed information go to:
http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/cr/cf/ and click on “Instructional Materials Frequently Asked Questions” for direct responses to realistic/practical questions.
See attached 2014-15 audit steps in the 2014-15 Guide for Annual Audits of K-12 Local Education Agencies.
Note: Assembly Bill X4 2, signed on July 28, 2009, suspended the process and procedures for adopting instructional materials until the 2013-14 school year. Senate Bill 70 (Statutes of 2011) extended that suspension until the 2015-16 school year.
Schoolwide Programs under Title I ~ Additional guidance by US Department of Education (USDOE)
A schoolwide program is a comprehensive reform strategy designed to upgrade the entire educational program in a Title I school; its primary goal is to ensure that all students, particularly those who are low-achieving, demonstrate proficient and advanced levels of achievement on State academic achievement standards. Schoolwide programs allow staff in schools with high concentrations of students from low-income families to redesign their entire educational program to serve all students.
A Title I targeted assistance program only provides educational services to identified individual students.
In general, a Title I school may operate as a schoolwide program only if a minimum of 40 percent of the students in the school, or residing in the attendance area served by the school, are from low-income families.
For more detailed information:
- Additional USDOE guidance: July 2015 - ESEA Title I Schoolwide Guidance, Non-Regulatory Guidance
PDF (3.63MB) - Title I Fiscal Guidance: Title I Fiscal Guidance (DOC)
- See the attached School Services of California article.
- See CDE website: http://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/sw/rt/
Federal Cash Management Data Collection ~ Reporting in Fiscal Year 2015-2016*
Reporting Period / Reporting Start Date / Reporting Deadline1 / 07/10/2015 / 07/31/2015
2 / 10/10/2015 / 10/31/2015
3 / 01/10/2016 / 01/31/2016
4 / 04/10/2016 / 04/30/2016
*Cash balance to be reported regardless of the fiscal year from which it originated.
Applicable to: Title I, Part A; Title I D, Subpart D; Title II, Part A; Title III LEP; Title III Immigrant
For more detailed information, see: http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/cm/
New ~ Reporting Requirements for Proposed Debt Issuances
AB 2274 amended Government Code Section 8855 and is effective January 1, 2015. It requires LEAs to notify the California Debt Investment Advisory Commission (CDIAC) of any proposed debt issuance, which would include refinancing and other secondary issuances. In addition, the bill established reporting timeframes. No later than 30 days prior to the sale of any debt issue, the issuer shall submit a report of the proposed issuance to CDIAC. Not later than 21 days after the sale of the debt, the issuer shall submit a report of final sale to CDIAC. Instructions to all of the requirements that CDIAC needs depending on the type of debt transaction and applicable reporting forms are available at: http://www.treasurer.ca.gov/cdiac/reporting.asp .The adoption of AB 2274 now authorizes CDIAC to assess an issuance fee to a “lender” in a financing. The fee is assessed on the principal amount and maturity length.
AB 2551 enhances transparency requirements for local bond elections, including Proposition 39 (2000) and two-thirds vote general obligation bonds. The bill requires LEAs attempting to pass local bonds to submit to their local elections office the total estimated debt service, including principal and interest, if all bonds are issued, as part of the Tax Rate Statement required pursuant to Elections Code Sections 9400-9401. The aforementioned reporting requirements are applicable to any issuance of debt after AB 2274 adds reporting requirements to debt from bonds already approved by voters. It requires agencies to notify CDIAC of any proposed debt issuance, which would include refinancing and other secondary issuances. The provisions of AB 2551 will be required for any local bond elections after January 1, 2015.
Senate Bill 277 (SB 277) ~ Vaccinations
Signed by the Governor in June 2015, SB277 eliminates the ‘personal belief’ exemption from mandatory vaccinations for certain infectious diseases prior to being admitted to public or private schools. . Under SB 277 as well as prior law, students may be admitted to school without immunizations due to medical reasons.
SB 277 provides an exemption for: students of home-based private schools; pupils who are enrolled in an independent study program who do not receive classroom-based instruction; and pupils who qualify for an individualized education program (pursuant to federal law and Section 56026 of the Education Code) and have an individualized education program (IEP) requiring special education and related services.
The bill allows students with a ‘personal belief’ exemption on file, prior to January 1, 2016, to be enrolled in school until the students enrolls in the next grade span. On and after July 1, 2016, the board shall not unconditionally admit for the first time, or admit or advance any pupil to 7th grade, unless the pupil has been immunized. Please see attached regarding Unconditional Admissions.
Grade spans are as follows:
- Birth through preschool
- Transitional Kindergarten through grade 6
- Grades 7 to 12
Please note that in accordance with the recent addition of an immunization component to the required financial and compliance audits of local educational agencies, in 2015-2016 California public schools will be audited if they:
- Do not submit immunization assessment reports to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in the fall of 2015; OR
- Report that more than 25% of kindergarteners were conditional entrants in the fall of 2015.
To avoid a potential audit or audit finding, it has been recommended by the CDPH to:
- Submit your school’s immunization reports by October 15th for kindergarten and November 1st for grade 7.
- If a child is not up-to-date on immunizations, do not let him/her attend school unless an exemption applies. Ensure that all conditionally admitted students are accurately reported and that proper follow-up procedures are in place. CDPH found that most students who were identified as “conditional entrants” were improperly classified (based on a sample of kindergarten immunization records during the 2013-14 school year). These students were behind in their immunizations, and should have been excluded from school until they received the catch up shots that were due at the time of school entry. See attached FAQs.
Additional information, including tools for your staff, is available from CDPH’s Shots for School website at www.ShotsforSchool.org.
One-Time Discretionary Funds
The State Budget appropriated approximately $3.2 billion in one-time funding (which pays down outstanding mandate debt) to be allocated to LEAs. LEAs can expect to receive their one-time discretionary funding of approximately $525 per ADA (based on 2014-15 P-2) in three installments:
- December 2015 ~ 40%
- January 2016 ~ 40%
- March 2016 ~ 20%
These funds are unrestricted although LEAs are encouraged to prioritize the funds for professional development, beginning teacher induction and mentoring, instructional materials, technology infrastructure, and other Common Core State Standards implementation efforts.
Educator Effectiveness Program
The Educator Effectiveness Program are one-time funds and were estimated to be approximately $1,450 on a per “certificated staff” basis using 2013-14 data. The actual funding will be based on 2014-15 certificated staff (not just teachers). At present, the exact amount per certificated staff is not known. The CDE will be establishing a resource code for this funding and it is anticipated that funds will be received in December 2015 and March 2016.
As a condition to receive Educator Effectiveness Program funds, LEAs will be required to do the following:
- Develop and adopt an expenditure plan, which must be explained during a public meeting of the governing board prior to its adoption at a subsequent meeting; and
- Provide a detailed expenditure report to the CDE on or before July 1, 2018, that includes an accounting of specific information such as: purchases made and the number of teachers, administrators, and/or paraprofessionals who received professional development. The CDE will determine the format of this expenditure report.
LEAs are to spend Educator Effectiveness funds beginning in 2015-16 through 2017-18. As well as the detailed expenditure report, the funds are subject to the LEA's annual independent audit. The funds are restricted for certain purposes which promote educator quality and effectiveness.
School Accountability Report Card (SARC) template
The State Board of Education (SBE) approved the School Accountability Report Card (SARC) template for 2014-15 that will be published during the 2015-16 school year. Education code 35256 requires school districts to issuing a SARC for each school in the district, and making the SARC available to parents online or in hard copy by February 1 of each year.SARCs must also be submitted to the CDE by February 1 of each year. It is recommended that districts post their SARCs in a prominently displayed section of their websites so parents/guardians and community members are able to access it easily.
The new SARC template has been slightly modified and will be available in late September on the CDE’s website: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/ac/sa/
California’s Sick Leave Law
Recently enacted in July 2015, Assembly Bill 304 helped clarify Assembly Bill 1522 (2014), the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Family Act of 2014. School Services of California’s Fiscal Report, The Latest on California’s Sick Leave Law addresses real issues/questions in a clear and understandable manner. It is recommended reading.
Dates to Remember:
09/01/2015 Escape Financial Group Meeting
09/07/2015 Holiday
09/08/2015 Escape HR/Payroll Group Meeting
09/10/2015 LCFF workshop presented by School Services of California
09/11/2015 Open Lab – Escape
09/11/2015 CALPADS New Year Start Up for Beginners presented by SCOE
09/15/2015 Unaudited actuals due to SCOE
09/18/2015 Open Lab - Escape
09/25/2015 DBUG
10/01/2015 Charter School workshop presented by FCMAT
10/08/2015 Pupil Attendance Accounting for School Site Personnel presented by CASBO
10/27/2015 LCFF/LCAP workshop presented by FCMAT
NOTE: Documents that are presented at DBUG may be found at dp.scoe.org website under the "DBUG/SCOE Bulletins" tab.