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Reporting deadlines and data collection system

Letter Head: Jack O'Connell, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, California Department of Education

February 8, 2010

Dear County and District Superintendents and Direct-Funded Charter School Administrators:

AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT OF 2009
SCHOOL-LEVEL EXPENDITURE DATA
REPORTING DEADLINES AND DATA COLLECTION SYSTEM

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) requires each local educational agency (LEA) receiving Title I, Part A, ARRA funds to report school level per-pupil educational expenditures from state and local funds for the 2008–09 school year to the state educational agency (SEA) by December 1, 2009. SEAs are then required to report the collected data to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) by March 31, 2010.

The ED issued final guidance regarding the reporting requirements on November 19, 2009. You can find the final guidance issued by the ED, Study of School-Level Expenditures Form A: Data Reporting Instructions for School-Level Expenditure Data for State Educational Agencies and Local Educational Agencies Web document on the CDE General Instructions Site-level Data Collection Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ar/rr/generalinstruct1.asp. Select the "Data Reporting Instructions for School-Level Expenditure Data for State Educational Agencies and Local Educational Agencies" link. Due to the late release of the guidance from the ED, the California Department of Education (CDE) has extended the due date for LEAs to return the school-level expenditure data to the CDE to March 15, 2010. .

Instructions for Reporting

The CDE will collect school-level expenditure data using the ARRA Reporting and Data Collection System, which was originally developed for ARRA Section 1512 reporting. The data collection system, along with instructions on how to use the system and detailed notes on required data fields, can be found on the CDE ARRA Reporting and Data Collection System Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ar/rr/rptingdatcol.asp. The data collection system will be open to LEAs for school-level data submission beginning no later than February 16, 2010.

The deadline for LEAs to report this information is March 15, 2010. To access the system, please use the same passwords that were distributed for the ARRA Section 1512 quarterly reporting.

Data Elements

LEAs are required to report three categories of school-level expenditures from state and local funds, plus a fourth category if data are available, for the 2008–09 school year.

  • Personnel salaries at the school level for all school-level instructional and support staff, including base salaries, incentive pay, bonuses, and supplemental stipends for mentoring or other additional roles are based on the Census Bureau’s classification used in the F-33 survey of local government finances. The survey classifications include:

    • Instruction: includes teachers and instructional aides
    • Support services—pupils: includes guidance counselors, nurses, attendance officers, speech pathologists, and other staff who provide support services for students
    • Support services—instructional staff: includes salaries for staff involved in curriculum development, staff training, operating the library, media and computer centers
    • Support services—school administration: includes principals and other staff involved in school administration

  • Personnel salaries at the school level for instructional staff only
  • Personnel salaries at the school level for teachers only
  • Non-personnel expenditures at the school level (if available) such as:

    • Professional development for teachers and other staff
    • Instructional materials and supplies
    • Computers, software and other technology
    • Contracted services such as distance learning services
    • Library books and media center learning materials

The CDE recognizes that providing school-level expenditures may be a difficult task for some LEAs, but notes that it is required by federal law as a condition of receipt of Title I, Part A, ARRA funds. We ask all LEAs to provide their best estimates for the requested data fields.

As we receive additional guidance from the federal government, we will share it with you. We will continue to keep you apprised of developments concerning ARRA reporting requirements and implementation through the listserv and on the CDE ARRA Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ar.

If you have any questions regarding ARRA reporting, or need your password resent, please contact the Fiscal Policy Division by phone at 916-322-6630 or by e-mail at arra@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

JACK O’CONNELL

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