Dear California Basic Educational Data System Coordinators:

California Basic Educational Data System Fall 2025 Coordinator Contact Updates and Data Collection Changes

In preparation for the 2025–26 California Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) data collection, which is an annual data collection administered in October that collects basic data about schools and districts, as well as some aggregate data on students and staff, the California Department of Education (CDE) is soliciting updates to local educational agency’s (LEA’s) CBEDS Coordinator’s contact information. This letter provides a brief description of the CBEDS Coordinator’s responsibilities and requests LEAs to review their designated CBEDS Coordinator’s contact information and ensure that the information is up-to-date, or to designate a new coordinator, if necessary. This letter is also to inform LEAs of changes to the upcoming 2025–26 CBEDS data collection and provide resources for reporting CBEDS data.

CBEDS Coordinator Responsibilities

Each LEA is asked to designate a CBEDS Coordinator, who will be the CDE’s point of contact for any questions about the LEA’s CBEDS data. It is the CBEDS Coordinator’s responsibility to ensure that their LEA is prepared to meet the CBEDS data reporting requirements. It is also the Coordinator’s responsibility to hold necessary CBEDS training for LEA staff and to ensure a complete, accurate, and timely CBEDS data submission.

Charter schools who have elected to report their data independently of their authorizer will be responsible for submitting their CBEDS data directly to the CDE.

CBEDS Coordinator Contact Information

The CDE currently has the following contact information on file for your LEA CBEDS Coordinator. It is important to keep this information current, as it will be used to disseminate notifications and updates related to the CBEDS data collection. Please review and update the following information at your earliest convenience.

LEA Name:
CBEDS Coordinator:
Phone:
Email:

To update CBEDS coordinator contact information:

• Go to the CDE CBEDS-Online Reporting Application (CBEDS-ORA) website at: http://www3.cde.ca.gov/opuscbeds/login.aspx.
• Enter your username and password and select the “Logon” button. If you have forgotten your logon information, you may use the Retrieve Username/Password feature on the CBEDS-ORA logon page. If you submit data for multiple LEAs, the Retrieve Username/Password feature will send logon information for each LEA that is associated with your email address.
• Select the “Update User Information” option from the Main Menu.
• Make the appropriate updates and submit the information.

Changes to the 2025–26 CBEDS Data Collection

No changes are being made to the County/District Information Form (CDIF) or the School Information Form (SIF) for the 2025–26 CBEDS data collection. For districts participating in the District of Choice program, there will be a change to the District of Choice Supplemental (DOCS) form.

The passage of Senate Bill 897 requires districts participating in the District of Choice program to include Foster Youth and Homeless Child or Youth student data in their required accounting and reporting. Therefore, the CBEDS DOCS form has been updated to reflect the addition of the Number of Foster Youth Students and the Number of Homeless Child or Youth Students in DOCS Section C – Transferred Students Receiving Transportation Services by Program Participation.

Resources

CDE staff are working diligently to update key resources to provide LEAs with the information and tools they need to prepare for the 2025–26 CBEDS data collection. We plan to post the 2025–26 CBEDS Administrative Manual, forms, and Import File Specifications later this month. All CBEDS resources will be available by the end of August through the CDE CBEDS web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ds/dc/cb/.

We appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to working with your LEA as you prepare for the 2025–26 CBEDS data collection. Should you have any questions regarding the contents of this letter, please contact the CBEDS/CDS Support Office by email at cbeds@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Liberty Van Natten, Director
Educational Data Management Division

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cc:
County Superintendents
District Superintendents
Select Charter School Administrators