Adopted Budget

Pursuant to EC 35035, 42126, and 42127 districts must prepare an Adopted Budget Report and present it to the board for approval prior to July 1.

Submission to the County Office of Education [EC 42127(a)(1)]

Districts must submit all documents to our office within five calendar days after adoption, or July 1, whichever is earlier.

When our office receives your report, we will evaluate the district’s solvency using the state criteria and standards and the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) Fiscal Health Risk Analysis tool. Therefore, please continue to focus on prudent fiscal management to ensure that the district will continue to meet its minimum reserve level while also maintaining sufficient cash to meet its financial obligations.

Our office is required to approve, conditionally approve, or disapprove the district’s adopted budget by Sept. 15. If a district’s budget is conditionally approved or disapproved by our office, the district’s governing board must respond to our recommendations no later than Oct. 8 (EC 42127).

Public Hearing [EC 42127 & 52062]

The public hearing for the LCAP and the public hearing for the Adopted Budget are two separate hearings that must be held at the same meeting, so be sure that you formally open and close each separate hearing. The meeting where these hearings are held must be separate from, and take place in advance of, the board meeting to adopt the LCAP and the Budget prior to

July 1 (there must be a minimum of 24 hours between meetings). SSC recommends that there be a one-week interval between the separate public hearings and adoption in the event a district needs to make changes.

Our office has arranged for the Notice of Public Hearing to be printed in the Santa Barbara News-Press, based on the dates provided by the district. The agenda should be posted 72 hours prior to the public hearing and must include the location where public inspection of the budget will occur prior to the hearing (EC 42103 & 42127(a)(1)). If you are not able to meet the published date, please call our office immediately.

District Oversight of Charter Schools

Sponsoring districts should review their charter school financial reports in accordance with their oversight responsibilities pursuant to EC 47604.32. Districts should assist charter staff with questions related to apportionments, timelines, forms, budget assumptions, or any other issues. Please forward the financial information you receive along with your review and comments. Please refer to FCMAT's Charter School Annual Oversight Checklist for additional guidance.