All right. Just up front-- so if anybody asks me about service hours or where the money is, I might have a stroke. So be careful, be gentle. We'll keep it all mellow today. Just kidding.

But anyway, it's great to be back. I appreciate all the kind thoughts and support as I went through a bunch of surgeries and recovery. So I'm glad to be back.

So let's get right into it. I heard you guys had a webinar while I was gone, didn't tell me. And you talked about Program Area Hours and Expenses. So I drafted that little communique when I went back-- came back to try to kind of demystify.

The thing about the service hours is our systems don't collect service hours accurately. Plus it wasn't in the bill. It was just-- in the budget bill from the legislature it was just hours of instruction only. So number one, we'd have to change our systems that collect the data to do a better job of collecting service hours. And number two, we'd have to figure out why we made these changes if it wasn't in the legislation.

I know all of you are providing service hours. And with the COVID situation it's become a more critical piece to the operation of adult schools and non-credit programming. But for this exercise, it's kind of kept internal. We have Tim Harmon, who is on the webinar last week-- or last month. He calculates the hourly rate looking at expenses and hours of instruction.

So that helps us determine if we ever go to the legislature or if CCAE or ACE goes to the legislature with a different model, at least we have this data to go on. And I know service hours would be critical to that model, but we probably need to get a field team to look at that and work with CASAS and WestEd to figure out a better way of collecting that.

So I think the only direction we gave you in that memo was we don't want members reporting like, oh I got 400 hours in ESL, and then not report any expenditures. Because that really skews the data. That makes the hourly rate go up significantly if there's no balance.

And so we've seen some that report like, oh I got all these hours in ESL, but no expenses. And I've got no hours in CTE, but I've got all these expenses. So we want to avoid those what we call Zero Entries.

So if you have a Program Area that you're member is offering, we want to see hours of instruction and then expenses associated with that. The other thing is, we're not just tracking CAEP dollars, we're tracking all the fund sources. So maybe you're using your CAEP dollars for services, but you're using your non-credit apportionment to run classes.

So for this exercise, we want to see your non-credit apportionment hours, and those expenses associated with. So don't we confused that just because you're not using CAEP for instruction, you don't have to report. So I'll pause there.

Veronica, were there any questions? Because I haven't been looking at the chat as I kind of went through a stream of consciousness there.

So there was one question from Shannon. She asked, "What if we have no instructional hours but expenses my position?"

Oh. So that would be for-- yeah, I understand. So you wouldn't have to report that, Shannon, because we don't want to skew-- because putting in those expenses not associated with ours kind of skews the whole intent of it. And that's OK. You're not going to get dinged or anything.

We just want to have good data. When we build this model we want to have accurate information. So we're more than happy that that member doesn't report. So I think you're good. If that made sense.

And that is the only-- oh, she said, "So leave it as zero?"

Well yeah, just don't report. So Veronica, do you want to just kind of walk people through how you make a member optional so it doesn't hold up the certification of your Program Area submission?

Well, that is done during the CFAP process when they have members who are voting only, non-funded. So that is how the Program Area reporting is prompted to option of--

OK. So they can't go in now and make someone optional for the Program Area Report? They could just leave it at zero and not report.

Yeah.

[interposing voices]

But they'll still be able to certify, right?

Yeah, they will have to physically go in and into those zeros, and then save the estimates. And then again, submit the actuals. So someone will actually have to do that. But they are able to submit basically blank reports.

OK. All right. I see Kelly has a question. "If we're using CAEP funds for cross-department services, we have developed a methodology based on FTS, does that work?" As long as your accounting office or whoever reports that data is comfortable with that, Kelly, I'm fine with you guys using that.

I know from the last webinar there was some concern about consistency. But it's difficult, because the colleges and K12s don't do stuff exactly the same. Their systems are different. K12 adults don't have ADA/FTES-type system, the colleges do. CASAS collects hours for their WIOA II and CAEP members. So we have access to that.

Non-WIOA, non-CASAS reporting colleges don't have that luxury. So there is going to be some variation. And when Tim did his steady, he tried to control for the variation. And that's why we came out with the zero entry.

It's a start. There's so much more we could do, but being that this isn't a critical test getting the funding-- it's more like research-- I think we're OK with how you're doing it. Because it really has provided some insight.

But if we relied on this to do some kind of performance-based funding or allocations, I think we would have to put a lot more work into it. And we're not doing that right now. So I think all is good for now. And Kelly, you can go ahead with that methodology.

Let's see. Did someone get Jodi the phone number? I hope?

Yes, Holly did.

OK. All right. And then, so Kristin says, "So we shouldn't report consortia-level spending, only program-level spending?" Yeah, if it's not associated with hours of instruction. But I mean, the way I look at it it's running the program. So there are going to be some admin costs, Kristin, associated with that.

So for you, you're paid from Hartnell. And so if Hartnell has hourly instruction, and then you have these admin costs, I mean, I think I would report it. I wouldn't exclude it, just because that's the cost of running the classroom. That classroom wouldn't be there without the custodian, without the admin support, without the consortia's support.

So that's all the cost of doing business. So I hope that makes sense.

Right. I just am wondering with-- for those of us who are really strictly consortium-level and not member agency affiliated actually-- I'm housed at a college, but I served the consortium and all my work is consortium-level work not directly related to the classroom.

Oh I see. So Hartnell doesn't have any hours--

They have a separate. Their funding is a separate part of my assets.

Yeah. I would say-- I mean, if it makes it simpler just to leave that out if you can. Because it would skew the data if we're looking at-- because what Tim does, he crunches the numbers and looks at a regression chart. And then he can cluster the expenses and the hours of instruction. So we get to an hourly rate.

I think currently it's between $10 and $20 an hour, which is great to know. And so if we start throwing in other stuff, it might skew that a little bit if it's not directly affiliated with the classroom cost.

So I don't know, I think it's up to you guys to see if that makes sense. Like I said, the variation is going to be difficult. And this is kind of the best information that we have right now.

The funny thing is, the legislature hasn't really done anything with this information. They haven't asked questions about it. So I think we're safe until one of our professional organizations wants to go forward with a new model or recommendation. Then I think we'd want to start asking questions about what model are you looking at? What data are you using?

And we don't want to make this too much work for everyone. We know it's a lot of work anyway. So I would say that's a judgment call, Kristen, unfortunately. I wish I could be more specific, but I think that's going to vary from each consortia. The consortia of how they operate.

Annabelle says, "So expenses should only be related to instructional only consortia admin expenses? Should not be folded in if they're supporting non-credit?" So like Kristen's situation, Annabelle, I think it's a judgment call.

If you feel you're contributing to those hours of instruction, then you could add them in. If your member is offering classes, if you feel you're part of that. The only thing is you've probably contributed not just to your college, but also maybe to the other members. So that's where it gets tricky and really detailed. And could be complex.

So I'll leave it up to you guys to determine. That is a good point. So if we ever got into deeper dive on this, we'd have to consider these things that Annabelle and Kristen brought up, as well as the other comments in the prior webinar on this topic.

So Kelly says, "We've reported all the instructional hours as well. It's just how we report the expenditures across CAEP." So like you said Kelly, judgment call and how much expenses you feel contributed to those instruction hours to report. It's easier for a member that doesn't have the consortia costs.

But if you do have those consortia costs built in, then you'd have to figure out what's the most appropriate way to show how those expenses informed or contributed to the instructional hours. Grace says, "My site is part of two consortia. How do I do this? I complete with the same information from both?" So what we've allowed, Grace for the few--

I know. I mean, we'll make it happen.

Oh. OK, so please mute. Sorry. So Grace, what we've done for the few consortium that are part of members that are part of two, you just pick one consortia and you can report all your data under that one. We didn't-- I mean, if you want to go to the trouble of splitting it you can, but because it was so complex, we allowed for New Haven down in the Bay Area because they're members of two-- Jessica would just report under one member. I mean, one consortia, if that makes sense.

And then Thatcher says, "What about multi system where there is both non-credit instructional hours and consortia-wide support related costs?" So we're only looking at instructional hours. We weren't asked to report the consortia-wide supports. So if you can-- like we said before, Thatcher, if you feel there's a strong tie to those instructional hours, then you can include those expenses.

But that's kind of a slippery slope there. Kind of tricky and more complex. So we don't want you to do any more work than you have to. And you're not going to get dinged for that. So I would say, whatever makes sense and makes it easier for you to submit, because you know your program, we don't.

And then Guillermo asks, "So counseling costs should be left out?" If they're not associated with the instructional hours, unfortunately, we have no other way of tracking them consistently. So we were asked for instructional hours. Unless the counselor is embedded into the classroom with the instructional hours-- which sometimes can happen, but it depends on how the class is set up. So just a stand alone counselor, those would be service hours, and we don't have a consistent way of tracking those hours.

Don't our financial numbers have to--

You've answered that, Neil, already I think in some of your responses above, so.

OK. You're OK with that then?

Yeah, I don't know if I can cut you that kind of slack, so.

OK, you're not going to put me into a stroke scenario--

No you're good. You're good.

--online? All Right. And then Dana said, "I was due on September 1, so when is it really due? I mean the estimates." So if you haven't submitted already, I mean, we'll probably be looking at the estimates. CDE will be looking at them probably by late next week. So technically, you could get away with spending a little more time on this.

Due dates are due dates, but CDE will look at that for their federal reporting. And then the actuals aren't due till December 1. So that's the more critical date. But we hope that gives you a little flexibility there. But sometimes if you give members some slack, you can never get them to get back on track, so.

All right. So Todd asks, "With regards to Frank's question the answer is no, correct?" Right, because what you're spending isn't necessarily aligned with what your allocation is. Because people have carryover, people don't spend all their money, people spend more than their allocation. So you're correct, Todd, the answer is no.

OK, so Serena says, "So sorry if this was clarified, but in terms of expenses, isn't all of our staff there to support instruction? And are we now only looking at teacher costs?" No, we're looking at all the cost of instruction. So whether it's classified, management, certified, custodial, childcare. I don't know.

Well, that's a tricky one, because that's support. But I mean, so anything associated with that hours of instruction. And it's not just reserved for certified. It includes other levels of staff that support that instruction. So you're correct.

OK, and then Bruce says, "Can we go back to the question--" OK, I thought I answered that. And then I'll round them up. OK, good. So I think we're-- are we moving on? I think we're moving on.

Oh, so really quick-- oh, I just wanted to-- funding update. I just wanted to-- really quickly for you colleges. We found out that CAEP is not on the deferral list. There are a lot of other programs on the deferral list, like Student Equity, CalWORKS, DSPS. There's a whole a long list, but CAEP is not on that deferral list.

So you should get your allocations like normal for CAEP. So that's all good news. So if you're worrying about that, don't worry about that. I'll keep you posted if anything changes on that.

And then as far as K12 and fiscal agents under K12, direct-funded, finance is troubleshooting to get the inter-agency agreement pushed through. So they are working with the Chancellor's Office in CDE. And so that is speeding up the process. And so I'm hoping that this can all be put to bed very soon, and then allocations can roll out to K12 fiscal agents in county office, fiscal agents, and those K12 and accounting office direct-funded members

The only thing is, is when the state finishes, then it goes to controllers. Then controllers works with your county office. Then you're county office works with your district. So there is still some processing to come, but we see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I can't give you an exact date, but it's moving. And we have finance involved, which usually gets people's attention. So we're hoping that this will push things along very quickly.

Cindy says, "So is there a possibility CalWORKS for adults ed will be impacted?" So if you're a college and you get CalWORKS, I think some of that money will be deferred. Meaning it will come a little bit later. But I think normally it's always late. So maybe it's the same old, same old with CalWORKS, but they are on the deferral list.

But that's for colleges. I don't think that's the case on K12. At least I haven't heard anything on K12 if they're doing deferrals. Because the way K12s operate is you have Prop 98 funds, there's a guaranteed funding level.

I don't know how that works with other funding sources outside of the LCFF, but we'll see if there was something they might inform us about that. So I haven't heard anything yet. OK. Yeah, so Cindy there is the possibility. I think I would just put up your caution flag for CalWORKS and try to find out. But I would put them on the list of possible deferrals or late allocations.

And then Veronica, did you want to talk about Q4 reporting in NOVA?

Yeah. So we just wanted to send a reminder about Q4 reporting in the fact that once it's certified by the consortium, we are no longer able to open it up to make any changes. And so we're advising everyone-- and this was in the newsletter a couple weeks ago-- but we're advising everyone to make sure that your expenditures across all quarters-- so even Quarter 1, 2, and 3-- making sure that they are all correct before you certify as a consortium.

If a member submits and needs to go back and make changes they are able to, as long as the consortium has not certified. And in addition to making sure the expenditures are correct, we want to make sure that you all understand about the budget revisions. So once the Q4 has certified the budget for 2019/20, it's no longer accessible.

So if you have any negative expenditures, its not a requirement to make sure that you do a budget revision. However, I have been working extensively with certain consortia, taking care of these issues. Because they have a negative budget remaining balance, and then it goes into multiple years and it creates a bit of a problem.

So if you do have the negative budget remaining for the end of Q4, it would be wise just to make sure that you go in and complete that budget revision to clean that up. So that your remaining balance isn't altered. And then you get to let's say, next year or the following year, and then it becomes more of a problem with it not being fixed.

So yeah, that's definitely the reminder we-- after the fact, we do receive requests to open up the expenditure reports, but we are unable to. So we strongly advise that you take care of those expenditures and the budget revisions prior to certifying for the consortium. Which that due date is September 30.

So you still have time to work through it, but we advise that you take care of it. And if you have any questions, I've been working with members and consortia on this in particular. So if you have any questions, definitely feel free to reach out to us, either myself or Holly.

And we can always jump on the Sum call with you all and work through whatever issues you may be experiencing. Whether it's contact information or related to expenditures, not being able to submit, et cetera.

So Veronica, the point of no return is when the consortia lead revised Q4. So if they had a member, all it takes is a member to reject it. And then they could go back in and change it. But once said that consortia lead or a primary certifies it, then it's locked. Is that correct?

Yes. That's correct. Yep, it's locked at that point.

OK, so it's on you guys, your consortia leads I see that are on this call. Once you've certified Q4, you've done it. You can't go back. So just remember that it's your fault. Not our fault. Just kidding, but anyway, so just keep that in mind.

And I know we have deadlines and all, but you can take your time to make sure everything is right before you go ahead and press that certification button for Q4. No pressure. Veronica, Michelle had a question about, they have a $10.21 negative. Do they need a revision for that?

Yeah, it's not required. So you don't have to have a revision for it, we just advise to eliminate any future problems to take care of those negative expenditures. Or negative remaining balances.

OK. And then Shannon reminds us, "The '20-'21 total budget doesn't update until '19-'20 is certified, correct?" Is that a correct statement, Veronica? Because of the carryover?

Yes, that is correct, Shannon. And for everyone else. So right now, if you haven't certified your Q4 expenditure report, your total available funds for 2020/21 it will be double. And the reason is because the system hasn't calculated your carryover amount. For some reason it actually gives you double your allocation, but once you certify that Q4 expenditure report, the system will update to your carryover amount. So that carryover amount will be added to your 2020/21 allocation.

OK. And that's-- I think we got an email from another consortia that said, hey, you gave us all this extra money. And we're like, no, we didn't give you the extra money. You just didn't certify your budget, so it looks like you have more. Is that kind of what's happening out there, Veronica?

Yeah, that's exactly what's happening.

OK, so no gifts. This isn't like, Let's Make a Deal, or whatever. It's on you guys. You guys are giving yourself-- or doubling your allocation if you don't certify, so.

Serena asks-- and I don't know if we can do this, but maybe Veronica you have a top 10 list-- "Can you please review what things to look for to make sure everything is right?" What are kind of the main things that you and Holly see that people forget or that they contact you about? That it would be good for everybody to remember that these are the most asked for or most commonly requested fixes?

So there are a range of things, and we can probably put something together and send it out to everyone. But one of the main things is the budget-- the negative budget remaining amount. So over the years, people have been-- I guess, the negative amount continues and it adds up.

And so when they get down to the end of a program year, and then they have a negative overall budget, then they wonder, why? Why do I have negative amounts going into the next program year? And part of the reason is because they continue to let that negative amount grow over years. So that's one thing.

The second thing is, by Quarter 4, sometimes the expenditures come in less than what was reported in the previous quarters. And so because NOVA is on a cumulative system, there is a need to go back and make an amendment to the expenditures to account for the reduction in the Quarter 4 expenditures. Because remember, NOVA will not let you submit any expenditures that are less than the previous quarter. So that's another thing.

And then in general-- because some districts, their accounting does not always match NOVA-- and so the district may say, you have x amount of carryover which is more or less than what NOVA is saying. And it's sometimes because the expenditures were either not updated, or they were inputted incorrectly. And so going through that process of figuring out where the discrepancy is, and then fixing it based on that.

So making sure as much as possible that the district's expenditures matches what's in NOVA, as well as the carryover. Those are probably the top three issues that we experience. Another thing is the-- and this could be useful going into the next program year when we do the budget and work plan-- we still have members and agencies who are submitting and certifying budgets that do not have that forecast.

And so they may be over or under their expenditures, but they don't have that corrective action plan. Or they sometimes do, but just making sure that that corrective action plan there's something in there. And it's totally up to all of you what you want for your forecast, your expenditure forecast. But that triggers the corrective action plan or not.

And then of course, making sure that you're spending down your monies before you get to the debt line. So we've had some inquiries about spending down to those '18-'19 money prior to the end of the program year. So those are kind of the bigger ones that we've been dealing with. But again, we can probably put something together so that everyone has the same information and those work around scenarios that will help you in this process.

That's great. Shamila says her members are having trouble submitting their Q4 numbers. They enter but the Submit button is not active. And then some of the other consortia leads have said, oh, they might have not certified that they did not exceed the indirect. Or maybe their budget or work plan isn't certified.

And then Uleane says this has happened to several members. "I tried topping the dollar number first, check the Agree box, right the corrective action." So Veronica, what do you see when people contact you about this-- similar to what Shamila's members are going through?

So the number one thing that we see in this case is that they are potentially entering expenditures that are less than the previous quarter. That's probably the number one reason why some people are unable to submit their Q4 expenditures. Because the previous quarter is greater than what they are entering. So I would look at that first.

And then there are notes in the expenditure report at the bottom, underneath the Submit button where it's supposed to be blue but it's gray. There could be a note there that says something like the previous quarter has not been submitted or the budget and work plan is open or not certified so you can't enter. It'll provide you with some context about what could be going on.

If none of those work, Shamila, we can hop on Sum and look at what you are seeing and try to figure it out from there. Sometimes that's the most simplest way for Holly and I to be able to pinpoint what's going on and be able to provide assistance.

All right, and then Kelly says, "We have that issue right now with Q3 slightly lower in one object code. So would we go back and uncertify Q3 and fix the expenses? And then resubmit and certify and then input Q4?" I would assume that's correct, right?

That's correct.

OK. And then Kathy says, "Is there an audit trail of certification and amending of the reports?" I think there is, isn't there?

Yeah, there's an export and our supporting documents.

And they can see all the changes that I've made, so-- plus the members get notified when changes are made or amended.

Mm hmm.

Amendments are done correct?

Mm hmm, mm hmm.

OK, so there is Kathy-- so there is an audit trail, plus there's a notification process every time a change is made. If someone revises their budget, amends their allocation, each of the member reps get notified that that's happening. So it's very transparent.

And then the last question here is from Michelle about interest. And so Michelle, we don't want the interest in NOVA, because it would screw up the allocation amounts. So you can keep that separate. I know your accounting office probably keeps that, and that's fine.

But we don't want the interest sent to us, nor do we want it posted in NOVA. For audit purposes, you'll probably be keeping that on your accounting spreadsheet. They'll track this a little differently, probably by program year, and that's fine. But we don't want to see it in NOVA because NOVA is just tracking the allocations.

OK. Veronica, anything else to add before we move the TOPSpro?

No, I don't have anything else.

OK. So TOPSpro, really quick, just a reminder I think we're down to about 20 member districts that haven't submitted their final for the year. And I've notified all the consortia leads. So good job, that's like-- I don't know, how many reporting members we have, like over 400.

So the fact that we only have 20, hopefully our data won't be-- for '19-'20 I'm assuming it's going to look somewhat similar to '18-'19. Might be a little bit lower, but not drastically. I think '20-'21 will be significantly different, just because of the whole online and the pre- and post-testing and all that. I think that data will look a little different. But we're down to about 20 that have to submit, so that's a good thing.

And then I'll just segue into the a Annual Plan Certification. I know some of you-- I think there was about-- I don't know. How many, Veronica? Maybe 20, 25 that haven't? They've submitted their annual plans, but they just haven't approved it?

Right, I want to say it's probably closer to 20, yeah.

OK, and so some people already went in and did it. Some people are waiting for a member-- some of their members, someone retired. So they got to get a new member rep to go in and certify. So there's a few things.

The only thing we wanted to let you know is that if you don't certify your annual plan, then your members can't start working on their budget and their plans. So it kind of stalls the process, so. But I think everybody knows that and they're aware of the situation. So just keep that in mind.

And then we already talked about the funding update. And then Veronica, do you want to talk about the Summit?

Yes I can. In yesterday's newsletter-- and we'll post the URLs in the chat-- but in yesterday's newsletter, we did announce that the Summit registration is now open. And so we provided the link of where everyone can register.

The costs to attend is free, and it's going to be a four day event. So it will take place on October 26 through October 29. And we will hold sessions between the hours of 8:30 AM and 2:30 PM between that Monday through Thursday. And then on that Tuesday from 2:30 to 4:00 will be the networking event.

And yeah, so we definitely encourage everyone, their members, teachers, counselors, transition specialists, et cetera to register for this event. We have been receiving proposal submissions, and we have been reviewing them in conjunction with our Summit Advisory Team. And we have been receiving quite a few of-- all of the proposals have been really, really good.

And so we're very excited about what we have to offer you all during this Summit. And one last thing-- oh, the proposal submission deadline was pushed back. So the deadline is now September 10, just to give people more of an opportunity to submit proposals. Especially if school started later this year, or maybe you just don't have time to put a proposal together because you were working through your reopening plan et cetera.

So just an opportunity to give people more of an opportunity to submit a proposal. We don't have unlimited slots available, but we have quite a few available. So we welcome everyone to continue to submit a proposal if you want to.

So Veronica, quick question from Crystal. Is there a limit to registration? Or is it-- I mean, we could have everyone come to the Summit, right? Or is there a technical limit to how many people we can have register?

No. So we have capacity for 1,000, I believe. And so anyone can register up until that 1,000 mark. And we'll continue to let the field know as we are moving along if we have run out of capacity. But it's--

Is it first come first serve? Or are we limiting x amount per consortia?

No, it's first come first serve. We are not doing our traditional method when we convene in person of having that consortium allotment of person identification numbers to allow their members to register. No, this year is first come, first serve for the virtual environment.

All right. Well, you guys better register, because LA Consortium is going to swamp the registration list if you don't watch it. Just kidding.

Veronica? Yeah, the registration is asking for a file to upload. And I tried to upload my picture of a JPEG. I don't know what that's been-- but it didn't take it. I don't know that's been updated, or if there's a reason for that.

OK, did you receive some type of error message or anything?

Correct, yes.

OK. Would you be able to send that to us so we can sent it to the virtual platform?

Perfect. Will do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right. And then Uleane says-- and maybe you already mentioned this-- when is the director's event? Or are we still having that?

Yes, we are still having that. It is October 5, 2020 and it starts at 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning. So all of the consortia leads and members should have received an invitation. We don't have it as a public event on the website, because it is more of a targeted day of training for directors and members.

So if you did not receive that invitation, email TAP and we'll get the link to you so that you can register. I think we have capacity for 300, and we are at I want to say 211 or 212. Something like that. So we still have room for those who would like to register.

Thank you.

All right. And then when do you say the registration will open?

For the directors event?

For the Summit. Because people are getting nervous about the first come, first serve.

Yeah, it opened yesterday.

Whoa.

I'll post a link in the chat.

Yeah, because on the Cal Adult Ed website it says opening soon.

Yeah, we're getting that fixed. That's why we directed everyone to the actual platform to register. But we're getting that updated.

And Shannon, just reminding everyone that has her Summit registration confirmation went to her spam. So if you don't receive that, check your spam. Just in case.

All right. And Annie, I think-- well, Nancy Miller. We're going to get to Kelly's question in a second, I just want to take care of the Summit questions. OK, so Nancy says, "We have two new member reps. When I added them to the appropriate agency, I had to take myself off the list and NOVA did not allow me to put myself back on as a rep of the consortia as I am the person that enters the program information."

So she should just probably contact you guys then you can troubleshoot her, correct? Or is there a quick fix Veronica, that you could tell her. Because she is the consortia lead, but for some reason she got knocked off. And now she needs to get back on.

OK yeah, contact us for that.

OK. So Nancy, contact TAP and they will take care of you. So I think I saw Carolyn the participant list. And I'm going to go back to Kelly's question about an update on WIOA II funding allocations. If Carolyn has anything to share if she's available.

Yeah, I'm here now.

Oh, OK.

First of all, welcome back, it's great to see you.

Thank you.

So update on WIOA, it is with our chief deputy for signature. And so hopefully that will happen pretty quickly so that it can get moved on to communications, and then we'll get the [interposing voices]. So we're hoping for-- hang on, I'm trying to multitask. I have to turn the other volume down.

So we're hoping that we will have those to be uploaded into this system, the reporting system, hopefully in the next couple weeks.

All right. So now, we still have time-- I mean, Veronica, do you have anything else? I was going to open it up for just general questions.

No, I don't have anything else.

All right. And then Carolyn, do you have anything to add there?

I do not.

OK. And then Kelly responded to Carolyn's information. "Can we at least get allocation amounts, even if not uploaded for budget planning?"

You'll need to call your consultant, and call them next week. I think that's when we'll have it where they'll be able to see it. So if you want to call your consultant next week.

All right.

And then I did want to add, Neil, that we have had-- the Student Intake survey. Went out yesterday. It was posted yesterday, and we've had over 400 responses.

Wow.

It's great. So it's really useful information. And I also do want to give a thank you to everyone who did the PPE survey. I know that was really a fast turnaround, but the information that you all provided-- those of you that did it-- it was helpful. And we got a big shout out and thank you from the person at CDE who is trying to organize all that to ensure that you all get PPE for your programs.

And I see Laura's question about the survey being available in Spanish. We have an office in the department that does that kind of translation. So I'm going to be working with them to see if we can get it translated. They're the ones that did all of the Social Security number things translated.

If we run into problems with that, I may look for volunteers from our adult ed community to see if we can get some folks to help us do the translation on those.

All right. And Carrie said that Chinese would be helpful too.

Yeah, we have the 10-- we would do it in the same 10 languages. We'd start with the languages that we have the Social Security one in, so.

Great. All right, anything else, Carolyn?

No.

All right. And then I don't know if we have anybody on from CASAS Is Jay on the line? I don't mean to put him on the spot, but if he's there, or if anybody else from CASAS.

Rachelle was just asking if CASAS could recommend a training or webinar that demonstrates the process for the new DIAR report submission via the Report Wizard? And so maybe that's something-- Rachelle, follow up with TAP and they can facilitate that connection with CASAS. And then CASAS can respond to you maybe with a link of a webinar or training packet that they put together for the new reporting process.

Neil, this is-- sorry. This is Holly. We did have a question come in about allocations. And the question was, "Will everyone be receiving 12 allocations, or will the first three come together at once?

So it depends on if you're K12 fiscal agent or direct-funded. Depending on the month it's allocated, the first installment will be bundled. So if you get it in September, it will include July, August. And depending on the cutoff date, maybe September. And then you'll get it monthly after that.

Some of the colleges got it I think this month. So it would have been two months, depending on the timing. So they are supposed to give it in installments, but that first one is usually multiple months because of the delay.

Great, thank you.

Sure.

Oh, and thank you to Sofia. So if I can't get it translated, Sofia, that would be great. Thank you.

All right. Let's see. Oh, and there's the link to the registration. So if-- I think there's 160 something people on. You can jump in and take those slots right now. And leave the other 800 for the other people.

Oh, and Ryan just posted a training that is September 9, Generating Reports Using TOPSpro Enterprise. It's from 1:00 to 2:30.

All right.

And he included the link to register. Thanks, Ryan.

Wow. Yeah, what am I doing here? I'll just let you guys kind of run the program. You're doing a lot better than I am. Connie asked-- and I'm assuming this is for the Summit-- "Do we still have to submit a photo?" I'm assuming that's--

So at this time, yes. We're working with the virtual platform to make it an optional. If you do not want to submit your actual photo, you are more than welcome to submit let's say, your agency's logo or maybe your consortium logo just to bypass that. Or you can hold off until we make it optional. So the choice is yours, but we're working on it.

Can you submit your favorite icon, whatever that might be? Or is that taboo. So let's say Connie likes flowers and wants to submit a daisy as her photo. Is that inappropriate?

It's not inappropriate.

OK.

It's an appropriate photo, yes. [interposing voices] appropriate photos.

So, Connie, you have some options there. All right. So-- or an avatar. Yeah, that would be good. Or my-- oh, where's my giant drink cup. Yeah, here we go. Or you could do that icon, right? So my vintage Slurpee cup.

All right. Well, anybody else have any-- I'm sure things, back to school is going great. Students are showing up. Everyone is in the testing room. No one's getting sick. I'm sure it's all good, right?

Well, because your allocations are based on me, you don't have to worry about things like students not showing up. We understand that we're all dealing with the situation of what's going on with everyone at home. And we have broadband issues, we have equipment issues, we have digital literacy issues, we have family support issues.

So we're just going to have to understand how this is all evolving in the field. So we will be there to support you in any way. And I think everyone has done a great job OTAN and CASAS and WestEd and TAP. And all the other vendors.

And the field experts have hung in there and done a great job of supporting everyone through this crazy spring and summer and now into fall. So I don't know, Carolyn, do you hear any concerns at the state level about adult education? I'm not really hearing any of that.

I think one of the things that came up today that we're hearing some of the challenges are has to do with adult schools that are associated with a K12 district who is really not allowing the adults to meet. And the guidance that has come out of CDE-- I see Connie shaking her head yes.

The guidance that has come out of CDE is related to-- really directed at K12. Talking about children and youth. And we don't serve children or youth, we serve adults and young adults.

And so wanting to try and get a distinction between that for our adult schools that are in those districts. So they can do testing if they want to do testing appropriately in a lab. CASAS has provided very clear guidance on that, so have HiSET and GED.

And so I'm working with our division director to see where we can ensure that the guidance for adults is different than the guidance for children.

Right. Same thing goes on the college side. There's plenty of programs that are on that deferral list, but adult education isn't one of them. So you might be involved in conversations about these deferrals. But we're not delaying our funds for CAEP. So that's a case just like Carolyn is saying.

As we get caught up in the K12, you also could get caught up in these conversations that are affecting community college and credit programming. But we're so far, so good. So you might have to deal with that at the local level as well.

But let's see, anything else? Oh, anything new on AB-1384? Does anybody know what AB-1384 is? Todd? Typical Todd, stumping the experts. Liability-related legislation. I haven't heard about that one.

So I think this has to do with schools, education institutions-- and Todd you can certainly jump on and speak if I'm getting it wrong-- but it has to do with schools cannot be held liable for students getting or teachers probably getting COVID while at school. Looks like Beth and Todd both are on it. So hopefully one of them will say whether I have that correct.

I think so, yeah. It was legislation related to limit-- or at least make districts feel better with regard to liability-- to having folks come back to school. Not that anybody can't sue anybody, but--

Right.

I don't know how that would apply to adult ed districts. Probably look at, like you said earlier, the K-12. That's their focus with those issues. And are adults looked upon differently or might it be more liable to have adults on campus?

But I was hoping that legislation would maybe send the message that there's the expectation if you choose to come back to school-- or when we come back to school-- that limits that mentality to sue somebody for something.

Right. Yeah, and so that's a great question, Todd. And I'm actually going to shoot that towards Dawn Koepke to see what she knows about that. And how it might relate to adult education.

And the last I heard, it was going to committee that week before the break. I'm not good with the legislative schedule, but it was supposed to go to committee sometime after the start of August. And I just didn't know where that went, or if it's not considered to be viable legislation.

Yeah, I don't know. But that's a great question though about how it relates to adults. And we've been trying to track some other legislation. The Learning Loss legislation was passed and the governor is expected to sign it. Adult education is listed in that.

But it means that you're going to have to be at the table, so to speak, the virtual Zoom table when they are talking about that funding. And that's the only way, right? We have to be at the table to make our presence known.

And you'll want to have some data to talk about the learning loss for your adult students so that hopefully you can get some information. And then--