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Revisions to Criteria and Standards

Attachment A: Summary of revisions to Criteria and Standards for fiscal solvency effective 2014-15.

Following is a summary of the revisions to the criteria and standards. There are minor differences in how the criteria and standards are worded for the budget reports compared to the interim reports, and minor differences between the criteria and standards for school districts and the criteria and standards for county offices of education. Substantive revisions are described below. For purposes of this summary, non-substantive revisions are indicated as no change.

Criterion Summary of Revisions
Average Daily Attendance (ADA) No change for district criterion. For county office criterion, revised “county-wide other purpose ADA” to “county-wide ADA” to conform to the new funding formula.
Enrollment
(School Districts Only)
No change.
ADA to Enrollment
(School Districts Only)
No change.

Revenue Limit: Renamed criterion “Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Revenue”

Changed terminology from “revenue limit” to “LCFF”.

Revised standard for measuring the change in LCFF revenue to take into consideration LCFF gap funding and (for districts only) LCFF economic recovery target payment, in addition to the change in population and the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA).

Added clarification that a district or county office that is at or above its LCFF target receives no gap funding, and instead its LCFF target is increased by COLA, but that such a district or county office's year-over-year revenue increase might be less than the statutory COLA due to local factors and components of the funding formula.

Salaries and Benefits Added acknowledgment that for many districts and county offices, it is likely that the 2014–15 and 2015–16 change from the historical average ratio of unrestricted salaries and benefits to total unrestricted general fund expenditures will exceed the standard because certain revenues that were restricted prior to the LCFF are now unrestricted within the LCFF.
Other Revenues and Expenditures No change.
Facilities Maintenance Replaced reference to Education Code Section 17584 relating to the former Deferred Maintenance program with reference to whether the LEA is providing adequately to preserve the functionality of its facilities for their normal life in accordance with Education Code sections 52060(d)(1) (for districts) or 52066(d)(1) (for county offices), and 17002(d)(1).
Deficit Spending No change.
Fund Balance No change.
Reserves No change for district criterion. For county office criterion, revised definition of “available reserves” to eliminate reference to the Juvenile Court/County Community Schools and Regional Occupational Centers/Programs.
Cash Balance
(Interim Period Only)
No change.

Supplemental Information Summary of Revisions
Contingent Liabilities No change.
Use of One-Time Revenues for Ongoing Expenditures No change.
Use of Ongoing Revenues for One-Time Expenditures (Budget Period Only) No change.
Contingent Revenues No change.
Contributions No change.
Long-Term Commitments No change.
Unfunded Liabilities No change.
Status of Labor Agreements No change.
New item: Local Control and   Accountability Plan (LCAP) New Item: Confirm that the governing board has adopted an LCAP or an update to the LCAP effective for the budget year.
New item: LCAP Expenditures New Item: Confirm that the budget includes the expenditures necessary to implement the LCAP or annual update to the LCAP.
Temporary Interfund Borrowings (Interim Period Only) No change.
Status of Other Funds (Interim Period Only) No change.
Questions:   Financial Accountability and Information Services | sacsinfo@cde.ca.gov | 916-322-1770
Last Reviewed: Wednesday, February 21, 2024