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CSI COE Fiscal Reporting Instructions

Instructions for County Offices of Education (COEs) that provide plan approval and plan development and implementation support to local educational agencies (LEAs) with schools meeting the criteria for Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI).

The Grant Management and Reporting Tool (GMART) is a web-based application that the COE will use to manage its Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) CSI COE Plan Approval subgrant and ESSA CSI COE Plan Development and Implementation Support subgrant, as well as to report fiscal data to the California Department of Education (CDE) for both subgrants.

Fiscal Reporting Tips

  • Expenditure and budget fields require data entry and if left blank the field will default to $0.00.

  • The dollar amounts on all pages can be entered numerically with a decimal point depicting cents, as well as with symbols such as dollar signs ($) and commas (,) when entered in the correct position.

  • The following are acceptable formats for an amount:

$123456.78

$123,456.78

123456.78

123,456.78

  • The GMART is designed to use the latest available Indirect Cost Rates (ICRs).

The GMART Pages

Logon

Once eligibility for funding is determined, the CDE will email usernames and passwords to COE Superintendents. Passwords are the same for each year the COE has received the subgrant. Once the application for funding is submitted and approved, the primary, secondary, and fiscal contacts listed on the application may have the usernames and passwords to access the GMART. Passwords are case-sensitive and cannot be reset or changed by the COE. If more than three attempts to log on have been made within one hour, the user will be locked out of the system. Contact the School Improvement and Support Office (SISO) at 916-319-0833 for assistance.

CSI COE Fiscal Information Web Page (Select Funding Year)

The GMART ESSA CSI COE home page displays the available grants. Future years will be added to this page once school eligibility has been determined. Under the heading, “Every Student Succeeds Act Comprehensive Support and Improvement County Office of Education Subgrants,” subgrants are labeled by fiscal year. Starting in FY 2022, along with the fiscal year is the subgrant type, i.e. Plan Development and Implementation Support or Plan Approval.

Funding Application

The COE has access to submit and view its funding application. However, once its funding application has been approved, the COE can no longer edit its application. Approved funding applications can only be viewed as reference documents. There is a tab in the GMART labelled “Funding Application” where it can be viewed.

CDE Contact Information

This page displays contact information for the SISO office. When calling, reference the ESSA CSI COE subgrant and the year of the subgrant in order to be directed to the person who can best provide assistance.

COE Contact Information

This page displays subgrant coordinator information reported by the COE and must be updated by the COE in the GMART. This information will be used to send updates and notifications pertaining to the ESSA CSI COE subgrant. The COE Contact Information page requires the following information for the Primary, Secondary, and Fiscal Coordinators:

  • Name
  • Title
  • Phone Number
  • Extension (optional)
  • Email Address
  • Fax (optional)

GMART Home Page

This page is used to revise project budgets and submit expenditure data at the end of each reporting period.

Allocations

Displayed at the top of the Reports page is the COE’s allocation amount. Depending on the subgrant performance period timeline, this amount could include the Preliminary Allocation, Final Allocation, or it may have just one of the named allocations displayed. The current allocation amount appears at the far right of the table.

Project Budget Revision

When expenditure amounts claimed for object codes are in excess of 10 percent of the last approved project budget or if the Expenditure Description changes significantly, a request to revise the project budget is required. Revisions to the approved project budget must be approved by the CDE before the COE can submit its Expenditure Report.

The Project Budget page will display the COE name, allocation amount, maximum indirect cost amount allowed, and current project budget status.

If the COE makes changes to its current project budget amount, the COE must enter a revised expenditure justification with sufficient detail in the Revised Expenditure Justification column detailing how the proposed changes will continue to meet the identified need(s) and directly align to the requirements outlined in the application for funding.

The Revised Expenditure Justification column is used to describe the actual expenditures for each major object code. Expenditure justifications must include the required detail as indicated on the CDE Guidance for Writing Expenditure Descriptions web page.

One of the following three messages will appear that inform the COE of the current status of its budget:

  1. Project Budget Revision Approved: the project budget revision has been reviewed and is approved.

  2. Project Budget Revision Pending CDE Review: a project budget revision has been submitted and the CDE is reviewing the submission.

  3. Project Budget Revision Not Approved: the project budget revision has been reviewed and is not approved.

The Project Budget Revision table will display an error message if there are inconsistencies with the proposed submission. Revisions to the project budget cannot be submitted until the errors have been resolved. The Remarks box below the Project Budget Revision table is optional and can be used to provide additional information or answer clarifying questions from the CDE about the submitted data.

Once revisions have been entered, select the “Submit Budget Revision” button to notify the CDE that a revision to the project budget has been submitted. The Submit button will not appear if there are any red error messages. Please scroll up and down if the Submit button does not appear to ensure all errors have been successfully solved. Once the project budget revision is submitted successfully, an automated message will be sent notifying the COE that its report has been submitted.

The CDE will review the project budget revision and, through the GMART, provide notification by email that the project budget revision is approved or not approved. If a project budget revision is not approved, the CDE will provide clarification in the Remarks History stating why the project budget revision was not approved and what the COE must do to correct the project budget revision. A project budget revision that is not approved will be accessible in the GMART for revisions.

The "Export Budget to Excel" button downloads the data into a Microsoft Excel file format. The file can be opened for viewing or saved for future reference. The file name is "ESSACOEBudgetDataExport.xls."

Expenditure Reports

The Required Reporting Dates table displays all reporting periods: Report 1, Report 2, Report 3, Report 4 and the Final Report. However, the COE will only be able to edit the current reporting period; prior and future reports will not be accessible. The COE must report expenditures by major object codes.

  • COEs may claim part or all of the maximum allowed indirect costs, based on reported expenditures to date (including from past reports). Previously, COEs could only claim indirect costs based on reported expenditures for that specific reporting period.

  • The Current Project Budget Amount column will prepopulate. Enter expenditure data for each object code, and enter zero if there are no expenditure data.

  • The Expenditure Report table will display an error message if there are inconsistencies with the proposed submission. The fiscal report cannot be submitted until the errors have been resolved.

  • The Remarks text box below the Expenditure Report table is optional and can be used to provide additional information or answer clarifying questions from the CDE about the expenditure data.

  • Once all expenditures have been entered, select the “Submit Report” button to notify the CDE that the report has been submitted. An automated message will be sent notifying the COE that its report has been submitted.

  • The CDE will review the report and provide notification by email if the report is approved or requires revisions. If a report requires revisions, select the “Show Report Submission and Review History” button to determine why the report requires revisions and the actions the COE must take in order to correct and resubmit the report. A report that requires revisions will be accessible in the GMART for revisions and resubmissions.

  • The “Show Report Submission and Review History” button displays the history of all submissions, feedback, and CDE approvals.

  • The "Export Report to Excel" button downloads the data into a Microsoft Excel file format. The file can be opened to view or saved for future reference. The file name is "ESSACOEReportDataExport.xls."

Budget History

The Budget History displays all budgets that have been approved. This includes the initial approved budget as well as all subsequent approved budget revisions. Different versions of the budget can be selected from the drop-down menu located at the bottom of the Project Budget page. Each approved budget version has an associated date of approval.

Questions:   School Improvement and Support Office | SISO@cde.ca.gov | 916-319-0833
Last Reviewed: Friday, November 17, 2023
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