Guidance: Title III English Learner Program
Consolidated Application, Spring Release Guidance for the 2016–17 Title III English Learner Program.Grant Period
September 30, 2018, marks the end of the federal grant period for the fiscal year (FY) 2016–17 subgrant (July 1, 2016, to September 30, 2018). Any local educational agency (LEA) reporting unexpended funds for this grant period will be invoiced by the California Department of Education (CDE).
Obligations
Use the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Section 3115(c)(1)(2) and (d) as a guide to determine allowable expenditures.
All obligations must be liquidated no later than 90 calendar days after the funding period ends. For the FY 2016–17 subgrant, all obligations need to be liquidated by December 30, 2018. According to the California School Accounting Manual (CSAM), “Legal obligations are commitments made by an LEA to purchase goods or services immediately or in a future period.” To determine whether a financial commitment should be reported as an obligation, please refer to Title 2, Part 200.34 of the U.S. Government Publishing Office’s Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
web page.
Administrative and Indirect Costs
Administrative costs are any costs, indirect or direct, that are administrative in nature and support the management of a program. For additional information, please refer to Procedure 915 in the CSAM on the CDE Definitions, Instructions, and Procedures web page.
An LEA may use no more than 2 percent of the English learner program subgrant for administrative costs and indirect costs (Title III, Section 3115[b]). The U.S. Department of Education 1997 guidance, Indirect Cost Determinations, Guidance for State and Local Government Agencies (referred to as the Blue Book) states that any “statutory or regulatory limitation applies to the combined claims for indirect costs and direct administration costs.” Please visit the CDE Title III Frequently Asked Questions web page.
Supplement, Not Supplant
Federal funds made available under this subpart shall be used so as to supplement the level of Federal, State, and local public funds that, in the absence of such availability, would have been expended for programs for English learners and immigrant children and youth and in no case to supplant such Federal, State, and local public funds.
