Senate Bill (SB) 352 specifies that the SBE develop “rigorous criteria for the approval of state-qualified training providers,” and that “a training program... shall be conducted for no fewer than 200 hours, a minimum of 40 hours of which shall involve intensive individualized support and professional development....” The legislation further directs the SBE to establish an application process by which public agencies and private organizations may apply to be state-qualified training providers and to ensure that the agency or organization is able to deliver a training program that meets the criteria.
The first component – the training program – is categorized into the four main areas indicated in the legislation: school finance, accounting and auditing; school operations; leadership; and intensive individualized support and professional development. Because it is also essential for CBO to understand the history, funding, and operations of charter schools, charter schools have been added as another area of training. Each of these headings is further defined consistent with SB 352, and additional topics have been added in order to present a complete and comprehensive program of instruction for CBOs.
State-qualified providers must offer a curriculum that includes, but is not necessarily limited to, these subject matters. The courses need not have the same titles or be grouped in the same manner; however, they must include the basic topics listed. Further, providers may determine the extent to which each topic is covered. It should also be noted that, in accordance with SB 352, the training is for persons already employed as CBOs, as well as for candidates nominated for the training by districts and county offices of education. In other words, the knowledge base of the training candidates may be quite diverse.
The second component of the CBO Training Program criteria is the provider application process, in which providers must demonstrate that they have the qualifications necessary for state approval. Prospective applicants will be asked to show that their training program is consistent with the SBE-approved curriculum, and that they are experienced in and capable of delivering such training. They will need to describe their organization’s history in providing such training and must give their assurance that the instructors are experts in their respective subject areas. The electronic application will include the provider’s curriculum, as well as its organizational and instructional qualifications.
The following pages detail the training program, the training provider qualifications, and the application process.
Training Program
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School Finance, Accounting, and Auditing (70 hours minimum)
Overview of School Business Administration
Overview of the history, concepts, and legal aspects of financing public schools in California; Proposition 98 and the state’s economy; the philosophical, sociological, and political forces that bring pressure for change and their significance for school business officers; the role of the CBO in ensuring the district’s financial solvency; legal issues typically encountered in the day-to-day operations of CBOs; the role of the CBO and the organization, structure, and function of a school district’s business division and its impact on the educational program; the relationship between the CBO, the superintendent, and the local school board; understanding the role of the CBO in the broad context of public education.
School Business Accounting
School district financial and managerial accounting, accounting system components; the standardized account code structure (SACS); modified accrual accounting; relevant Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) statements; knowledge of different software systems; student body organization funds, state and federal projects, certificated and classified payroll as it relates to school district accounting and retirement system reporting and payroll tax reporting; year-end closing; the legal requirements and the reporting functions that affect the organization and management of accounting processes in school systems; effective internal controls.
Average Daily Attendance Projections and Accounting
In-depth focus on student attendance accounting, record-keeping, reporting, and audit requirements mandated for kindergarten through grade twelve school districts; projecting a district’s average daily attendance (ADA): birth rate data, historical trends, building trends; ongoing monitoring of ADA; how ADA is calculated; instructional time requirements, declining enrollment, highly qualified teacher/credential requirements, charter school credential requirements for claiming ADA; how charter schools affect district attendance; review of independent study and other instructional strategies and delivery systems, including legal and compliance issues; state-required forms; the relationship between income and student attendance; successful techniques, models and methods for increasing student attendance.
Revenue Limits
An in-depth study of how revenue limit funding works, including a conceptual overview as well as specific formulas; an historical perspective including Serrano vs. Priest, Proposition 13, and the Gann Limit; covers cost of living adjustments, deficits, equalization, and charter schools.
Categorical Program Management
A review of categorical funds, including understanding restricted and unrestricted funds; managing state and federal categorical funds; supplant versus supplement; methods for documenting costs for restricted funds; time accounting for federal program funds; examples of flexibility such as mega-item transfer and Assembly Bill (AB) 825 categorical block transfer; defining goals and aligning categorical dollars.
Budget Development and Monitoring
Techniques and strategies for developing, monitoring and evaluating district, department, and site budgets emphasizing multi-year projections, assumptions; trend analysis; revenue projections; monitoring results against projections; collaborative development approaches and increased accountability; zero based budgeting versus maintenance budgeting; working with directors who manage budgets; SACS technical checklist, and standards and criteria for self-monitoring; budget calendar; the impact of local district philosophy and state requirements on the budget development process; strategies and techniques to increase and maximize revenues, be more efficient, and reduce budgets; staffing projections, using historical data in projecting operational costs; position control; managerial skills necessary to prepare, administer and present/communicate the district budget; the state’s economy and budget (including Proposition 98), and implications for schools and districts.
Cash Management
Covers treasury operations including bank relations, debt issuance and management of investments; reconciliation, imprest and student body accounts, electronic funds transfer, positive pay, check printing, armored car pick up; preparing and monitoring a meaningful cash flow; understanding the relationship between cash and fund balance, and district wide versus general fund cash; operational cash flows and project based cash flows; the state apportionment schedule, taxes, borrowing strategies, such as Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRANs), or from other funds, or the county.
AB 1200
A review of the AB 1200 process, as enhanced by AB 2756, including how to identify potential fiscal solvency issues, and strategies to address those issues; review of audits and collective bargaining agreements; the budget and interim report process and timeline, qualified and negative certifications, the definition of financially troubled districts, and the options available to the county and the state to ensure fiscal solvency.
Financial Reporting
Covers the financial reporting process, including the necessary information gathering: budget, interim reports, unaudited actuals, indirect cost rate, audit reports, payroll and retirement reports, collective bargaining reports, etc.; budget and financial reporting calendar and timelines; the statewide SACS; year-end closing; continual budget reports to the board and the community; understanding how fiscal data are used.
Auditing
Covers the purpose of audits, the audit process, and preparing for an audit; critical internal audit functions; using audit reports as a management tool; understanding and posting audit adjustments; writing an effective Management Discussion and Analysis; the importance of good internal controls; managing auditing procedures that comply with federal, state, and local requirements; the legal requirements and specific reporting functions affecting the organization and management of auditing processes in school systems; implementing procedures and processes to address audit findings, including the audit appeal process.
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School Operations (50 hours minimum)
Facilities Planning and Construction
An overview of the construction process from planning to culmination; the interrelationships and functions of the Office of the State Architect, California Department of Education, State Allocation Board, county and city agencies, and building inspection requirements; redevelopment agency built schools; the interaction of school boards, superintendents, architects, maintenance staff, purchasing, accounting, local agencies/contractors and facilities planning staff; educational specifications relating to school construction, financing strategies and debt issuance process, master planning and property management, and enrollment projections; negotiating the purchase or lease of a facility; developing a Facilities Master Plan, select school sites, plan construction projects, construct capital facility projects, and assess completed projects; the regulatory and funding differences among site acquisition, new construction, and modernization; how facilities are funded; asset management of existing site revenue generation; charter schools; general obligation bonds, developer fees, and alternate sources of funding.
Maintenance and Operations
An overview of the importance of maintaining a district’s buildings and grounds, including the Williams Settlement and its provisions; meeting safety standards, optimizing maintenance resources and capital equipment life, minimizing energy usage; determining adequate custodial, maintenance and grounds staff; understanding the responsibilities and services necessary in a school district; legal restrictions on contracting out; bidding process; routine repair and maintenance account; leasing vs. purchase; capitalization plan; replacement of equipment; preventive and deferred maintenance; the Deferred Maintenance Program, including the five-year plan, eligible projects, etc.
Transportation
An overview of laws and regulations governing school district transportation, including Special Education transportation needs; establishing/recommending service criteria (walking distances, parent fees, athletic/field trip); transportation schedules and cost effectiveness; school bus replacement for small districts; evaluating costs, managing liability, protecting assets, ensuring student/staff safety; transportation service providers; best practices regarding fleet maintenance and repairs; training employees, recommending delivery method (in-house or contract vendor); state funding; effective delivery systems for pupil transportation; alternative methods of financing and operating a pupil transportation system.
Food Services
Overview of the operation of food and nutritional services in public schools; methods for ensuring compliance with state and federal regulations, cost and accounting controls and ways to contribute to the educational goals by providing nutritional meals and services to students; proper menu planning; state and federal law related to food service; legal requirements, organization, mission and staffing of food services; understanding revenue streams; legal requirements for food preparation; environment of service areas for student feeding; food service options for open vs. closed campuses.
Collective Bargaining and Contract Administration
Overview of California’s public school collective bargaining and contract administration principles and processes, including a history of public school collective bargaining; approaches for developing and presenting contract language and determining strategies for handling grievances, impasse, fact finding, mediation, and arbitration; the role of the chief business official in classified and certificated collective bargaining; impact of budget committees on collective bargaining; equity considerations for bargaining units; being involved in the negotiation process; the types of negotiations and their advantages and disadvantages; understanding conflicting demands, and fiscal aspects; costing out proposals, including unit and resource, step and column, full-time equivalent (FTE), etc.; public disclosure documents; impact of collective bargaining on the budget; collective bargaining strategies for up and down year budgets.
Risk Management
Basic processes, goals, and strategies associated with risk management principles including legal aspects; interrelationship and functions among occupational safety and health act, Joint Powers Authority, third party administrators, brokers/consultants and insurance companies and the interaction with school boards, site administrators, the district office and interdepartmental operations and the injured worker or visitor; workers’ compensation, employee benefits, property liability, safety issues and mandates, and alternative risk financing; the historical role of risk management in an organization and common risks, including how to mitigate accidents and losses; insurance programs for employees, liability, property and risk reduction; typical school district programs for insurance and optimal strategies for providing programs including self-insurance; excess liability and liability reinsurance programs; predicting and managing school district insurance risks; strategies for analyzing and responding to the insurance marketplace.
Purchasing and Warehousing
Covers the legal requirements, organization, mission, and staffing of purchasing and warehousing, separation of duties – adequate oversight of function and process for expenditure control; best practices for developing legal contracts; gift of public funds rules; bidding procedures, contracting, inventory control; fundamental concepts associated with purchasing processes and supply chain managements; just-in-time purchasing; standards of purchasing practice, bonding requirements and legal aspects of purchasing from the perspectives of the California Public Contract Code and the California Commercial Code.
Management Information Systems
Information and technology systems used in school finance and business operations; the role of information systems in school business; the role and importance of student information systems in particular; security issues, including protecting private information records; computer-assisted management decision-making; integrating network applications; managing data and knowledge, and planning for future technology needs; the structure and organization of a management information system for both district and site operations; the different needs and demands on management information systems; methods of delivery; network management; planning and installing information and technology systems; selecting data processing equipment, and interfacing business and instructional information systems.
Personnel Administration
Covers the regulations, laws, and court cases relating to personnel administration in kindergarten through grade twelve districts, including workforce increase and reduction; salary calculations and salary schedules, creating contingency formulas for salary negotiations; highly qualified teachers, and credential and assignment monitoring; importance of position control, and of hiring and retaining good employees; effective personnel management; good supervision practices and techniques; personnel issues that affect the district, particularly business services; effectively evaluating subordinates; staff development; progressive discipline; understanding the interaction between Personnel and Business Services.
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Leadership (20 hours minimum)
Principles of leadership and key components for becoming a visionary leader; methods for demonstrating vision, positive communication, positioning and empowerment which contribute to the success of CBOs and a strategic planning process that enhances a school district’s ability to plan for the future; the expanding role of the chief school business officer with emphasis on leadership strategies and techniques, including organizational dynamics, communication, facilitation, and presentation skills; developing a professional support structure with other CBOs; district politics, legal communications, and confidentiality; how to facilitate meetings and lead groups; how to engage stakeholder groups in key decisions; conflict resolution strategies; collaboration skills and techniques; develop and implement long range plans; understanding the school board’s role and responsibilities within the area of finance, and understanding the appropriate role and relationship with the governance team, district staff, parents, and community.
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Charter Schools (20 hours minimum)
Covers the history of charter schools in California, including the impact on and interaction with school districts; how charter schools are financed; privately-issued debt instruments, the unique funding formulas; nonclassroom-based funding determinations, audit standards, financial reporting, corporate nonprofit accounting rules and practices; facilities needs and funding; analyzing and assessing charter school petitions; monitoring the fiscal solvency of charter schools.
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Intensive Individualized Support and Professional Development (40 hours minimum – to be completed within two years after training commences)
Supervised practicum experiences within the area of school business; an application of knowledge, skills, and principles gained in coursework; for example, with approval of a mentor or advisor, a relevant or significant project is researched, completed, and presented to advisor/mentor, and/or district supervisor; projects might include procedural or training manuals; cost analysis studies; studies of classroom and staffing needs, student-teacher ratios, standardizing financial information; practicum experiences may also be ongoing throughout the program, with projects, assignments, and research associated with various subject areas; other mentoring programs that are well-defined and relevant may also satisfy this 40 hour requirement.
Training Provider Qualifications
and Application Process
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Qualifications
Various organizations and entities may qualify as training providers for CBOs. Accredited colleges and universities, professional associations or organizations whose primary purpose is to focus on school business, and local educational agencies such as county offices of education are considered to be qualified to provide training for CBOs. Other entities that can demonstrate success in providing such training may also be qualified.
Organizations and entities should be able to show a successful track record in delivering training for business officers. They should be well-managed with adequate staffing and resources, and their instructional methodologies and methods of delivery must be sound and appropriate for the course content. Providers will need to describe the instructional mode in sufficient detail to allow an assessment as to the adequacy of the training and the quality of the instruction.
Instructors must be experts in their respective subject areas with demonstrated knowledge, experience, and expertise in the subject matters they are teaching; it is also important that they have appropriate training experience.
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Application
Training providers will be asked to complete an on-line application, and to include the following information:
- Training curriculum that meets the state’s criteria, including an explanation of how the “intensive individualized support and professional development” requirement will be met
- Description of the organization’s background and experience in providing professional development in the area of school business
- Description of training setting and delivery, including details of any online instruction
- Signed assurance that all instructors have demonstrated knowledge, experience, and expertise in the subject matter they will teach, and that they have appropriate training experience
- Signed assurance that participants will be surveyed about the quality of instruction and curriculum content
