MAYRA DIAZ: And good morning, good morning, everyone. Happy Wednesday, March 4th. Thank you all for joining us today for our CAEP preliminary allocations and CFAD overview that we will be co-presenting and sharing updates for you all today. In today's presentation, we will be covering the CAEP preliminary state budget update as we most recently released the preliminary allocations along with the memo. 

And we will be walking through the upcoming set of deliverables that will be due, consisting of the CFAD, the annual allocation process, allocation amendment overview, and then some updates on carryover compliance monitoring and sharing some of the latest data that we have been able to analyze in addition to important dates, and open it up for questions and discussion at the end. As Mandilee noted, we'll keep an eye on the chat, address those as we can, but we'll also open it up at the end for any Q&A. Next slide, please. 

And as mentioned, my name is Mayra Diaz. I am the program lead for the California Community College Chancellor's Office California Adult Education program, and I am joined here today by my colleague Diana Batista. Diana, do you want to introduce yourself? 

DIANA BATISTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome. I'm happy to see all of you here. I am Diana Batista. I am an education programs consultant with the California Department of Education, and I work closely with Mayra and the whole team, both taps, so that we can make sure that we serve you in processing all of the CAEP deliverables. Thank you, Mayra. Thank you, Diana. And I'm going to-- Mandilee, if you want to introduce yourself as well. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Sure. Sorry about that. Wasn't planning on it. So Mandilee Gonzales. I'm coordinator here with CAEP based at the SCOE office, and I will be here to help answer any questions in the chat. 

MAYRA DIAZ: Awesome. Thank you. All right, next slide, please. OK, so in January the governor released his preliminary, or the January proposed budget. And that allowed us to compose and look at the CAEP preliminary allocations that we released and announced on February 20. What that consisted of for '26-'27 was increasing the CAEP base allocation to $684 million, with a proposed 2.41% COLA increase, which translates into about $16 million. 

We captured that in the CAEP preliminary allocation schedule. And some of the key dates to look for-- what we will be doing in today's presentation will also be walking you through-- I know that this is an annual process that comes around two processes. We've got one in February and we've got one mid-year where we announce the final allocations. And so we really want to be able to give you an overview of how those tie-in to one another. But before we get to that part, just wanting to elevate some of the key dates to look for what happens after the governor releases the proposed budget in January. 

So we will be monitoring for state revenue updates in April. We will await the May the May Revise, which will what which is generally released around the second or middle of the month in May. In addition to that, we wait for the June trailer bill. And finally, that allows us to-- once the governor signs the budget, that allows us to publish and produce the July memo, with the final allocations that detail consortia and member level granularity of details. So we will walk you through our processes at the state level and how we compose those two various schedules together. Next slide, please. 

So for this year, 2026 CAEP annual processes, as mentioned, around this time of the year, between January and February, the state offices are awaiting the release of the governor's January preliminary budget. Once we receive that, that allows us to put together the preliminary allocations, dependant on if there is a proposed COLA. As the prior slide noted, there is a 2.41% proposed COLA. There's a possibility for that to change, so we monitor that very closely before we publish any final allocations. As last year's example, I believe there was a proposed COLA in early January. By the time we got to the May revise, there was a reduction to that COLA. 

And so these are preliminary allocations with an additional adjustment once the May revise and the final budget is signed. And so the preliminary allocations are released at the high level of the consortium. So we publish one schedule that captures the 71 consortia with the proposed COLA. And then the next deliverable that will be due is the CFAD. That is what we will be covering in today's presentation, doing a walkthrough of what that next step will entail. That is generally due annually on May 2. 

This year, May 2 does fall on a weekend, and so it will be due the following business day, which is that Monday, May 4. And that the CFAD allows for member level allocation planning. You also capture your carryover threshold definition. And we will cover this a bit more in depth in some of the other presentation slides that we have. And then as we get to May, as we mentioned, we await the May revise, and between May and August, a couple of additional action items that occur. We will release the final allocations that capture consortium and member level detail. 

And then the action for the field will be conducting an allocation amendment that is due by September 1. This year, we have an annual plan. Last year, we had the three-year plan that covers for the-- the three-year plan is covering us for the next three years. And so now the annual plan will be an update to that three-year plan, and followed by the member budget workplan and program area reporting that is due later in December, and we'll cover that more in depth in the following presentation slides. 

And then in addition to that, there are fiscal reports that are due quarterly. So ensure that you're continuing to report timely on those required reports that are due throughout the year. Next slide, please. As mentioned the allocation memo was released. You should have-- most of all should have received the announcement. It's also posted on the website. Next slide, please. So one of the common questions that we hear a little bit of confusion, because it's a very extensive process, and that is there's twofold. We've got the annual allocation process. 

And then also, how does that tie into the CFAD? So I'm going to walk you through a little bit of an overview, which I kind of did in the prior slide, but this goes a little bit more in depth. So there's a couple of different action items that occur in the initial preliminary allocation process versus in July once we announced the final allocations and then what the action item entails at that time of the year. So as mentioned, in January, the governor releases the preliminary state budget. 

The CAEP state office begins to review and calculates the preliminary allocations, and that is at the consortia level. And what we do also, once we have-- if there is a proposed COLA increase or a proposed COLA in general, then that allows us to populate the proposed COLA amounts, publish that into a schedule that we release along with the allocations. We also go into NOVA. The state office will also go into NOVA and input on the back end the allocation at the consortia level. 

So step one is everything is done at the consortia level and what we are publishing. Between March and April, after this webinar and after we had released the schedule and the memo, the consortium now will go off and hold their public meetings to discuss the proposed next steps with the allocation COLA that is captured in the schedule. Consortia determine member distribution based upon ed code and bylaw distribution. So a reminder that ed code essentially dictates some of these components and how you are treating the COLA in which members receive no less than the prior year's allocation. 

After that, after those decisions are conducted, the consortia will then go in and input the preliminary member allocations into NOVA when completing the CFAD workflow. And this is then due May 2. And then in this case, it's on a Saturday, so we are going to shift that to May 4, which is the first business day after the weekend. And so that is how those allocation processes tie in. It is all done initially at the consortia level. Between March and April, members will engage in these discussions and input the proposed whether you are a fiscal agent-funded channel or a direct-funded channel, the CAEP is the vehicle in which you are reporting your member level allocations. 

You're telling the state what the proposed distribution will be. We await the May revise budget. Once that is announced, then it depends, depending on the-- if there is an increase in COLA, a decrease in COLA that's out of our hands. And it really just depends on what the outcome of the May revise is. We then go in and make the adjustments, allows us to calculate all the CFAD allocations that you all have submitted with your member level proposed distribution and split, and that allows us to put together the final allocation schedule. We also await for any June trailer bills. 

Once the budget is officially signed by the governor, we are able to finalize the allocations and then we also input any proposed increases. If there was an increase in COLA or decrease in COLA, we capture those changes in NOVA. So by the time that we release the schedule, those adjustments have been enacted. We generally will have an additional webinar with TAP around July that then captures the next steps, which is conducting the allocation amendment. And that occurs regardless of funding channel. 

And in August, we then officially release the apportionment. That's when funds begin to be distributed. In addition, the annual plan is due. And then the following deliverables, the member work plan and budget is due. And then in October, the consortium will need to certify the member workplan and budget. So an overview of the CAEP annual allocation process. Next slide, please. And now diving into the consortium fiscal administrative declaration, otherwise known as the CFAD. 

So the CFAD is important to the state because it captures, one, projected member allocations for each consortium based upon the preliminary allocations, and then, two, the consortium's chosen disbursement method. So you are telling us if there is a change, if you are changing funding channels, if you're remaining as a fiscal agent or a direct funded channel. And then also, you're telling us, whether you're a fiscal agent or a direct-funded channel, you are breaking out your member level proposed allocation distribution. You should be breaking those details out. 

Even if you are a fiscal agent-funded channel, you should still be capturing the members within your consortia and the amount that will be distributed to those members. That level of detail should be captured in the CFAD. The CFAD process is available annually. It occurs around this time of the year once we release the consortium preliminary allocation. That becomes available as soon as we release the schedule, because we've inputted-- on the back end, we've entered the proposed allocations in NOVA. 

And so that opens up the CFAD. The CFAD consists of five main components. We will have TAP conduct the live demonstration during this webinar session, and we can walk you through that. But it contains a five main components-- the fiscal declaration, agencies and certifiers, member allocations, which is what we were referring to, ensuring that you are breaking out the proposed member distribution and their allocations, and then something new that was added about two years ago, which is the carryover threshold, aligns to carryover compliance tracking. 

And then you're also providing details about your governance structure, how your consortia structure is governed. And there is a series of questions that allow you to capture those details. And it's due May 2 of each year. Next slide, please. A reminder about the CFAD. So all members must certify the consortium CFAD. NOVA is set up to allow for that level of approval. But just a reminder that all the members within the consortium must certify. 

Members receive no less than the prior year's allocation. That's dictated by ed code. Consortium must input preliminary allocations for the funded members, regardless of district or-- I'm sorry-- regardless of direct or fiscal agent funding channel. A reminder that irrespective of the funding channel that you fall under, you will still be required to report your funded member allocation that you are proposing. The CFAD governance section identifies governance structure for decision making in accordance with education code 8905. 

In consortia report essentially on the governance section, consortia are reporting on governance compliance of rules and procedures. Please ensure that these sections are thoroughly filled out. I know that at times, this becomes an annual update for some, and so just ensuring that you're still thoroughly addressing the questions that are being asked. We do go in and review that information. And then lastly, question number 16 and 17, as mentioned, that was added about two years ago. Those two questions align to how the consortium is addressing the carryover compliance tracking. 

And then there's another component that we'll talk about as well. In the next slide, if we can transition to the next slide, that goes a little bit more in depth on the carryover compliance. So the CFAD is also-- as mentioned, two years ago, we incorporated some enhancements where we are also using the CFAD to track the carryover compliance that allows us to understand from the consortium, number one, question number 16 and 17, how the consortia-- what the consortium is implementing to address the carryover compliance tracking. 

In addition, there is a section in the CFAD, that's the carryover threshold tab, where consortium have the ability to opt in or opt out to choose an internal carryover threshold for consortia to monitor member carryover. And this can be changed annually. So a reminder that as you're filling out the CFAD, this section will come up again. You'll have the conversations with your consortia. Diana, in this session, she will cover some additional slides on carryover compliance, share some updates. 

And so that information will be pertinent as you go off and have your meetings and determine how you are going to implement the carryover compliance tracking, whether you're going to opt in or opt out. You'll also be asked to-- if you opt in, then the system will allow you to select an internal carryover compliance threshold, which enables a customized corrective action threshold to be defined by quarter. So you will be able to input under Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4, a percentage of tracking. 

And what this will do is if your consortia opts in and you designate a carryover threshold-- in the example in the snapshot, it's 20%, 25%-- then you will be asked to fill out an input, a percentage for carryover threshold tracking. What this does is whenever your members are completing the quarterly fiscal report, if they are flagged due to these percentages, under the fiscal report, there will be a member corrective action plan section that is prompting the member to identify and address the-- not the issue, but address the carryover. 

So this will be an additional flag for the member that if they're exceeding the carryover or if they have excessive carryover, they're not spending those funds down, they will be prompted. And that is connected by opting in to select an selected internal carryover threshold followed by the corrective action. The percentages that you're inputting. And then lastly, throughout the year when the fiscal reports are being completed, a corrective action narrative section is going to appear during the quarterly expenditure reporting for a member if they are flagged for the carryover that they have been exceeding. 

So just a reminder of that. Next slide, please. And I'm going to speed it up because I think I've been taking this a little bit slow. OK, lastly, my last slide. CFAD deadline reminder, as mentioned, it's due-- this year will be due the following business day because may 2 falls on the weekend, so that'll be Monday, May 4. A really important reminder that the CFAD captures member allocations and the consortium's chosen disbursement method. This is important to the state. 

In order for us to put together the allocations and release under that short window by July, we have a legislative deadline to complete these processes and publish the schedule, we need-- we have a cutoff date. We need these CFADs to be submitted, fully submitted, and certified no later than May 2, May 4 in this case. We use that information to start to compose our allocations schedule. And so therefore, no extensions are granted for the May 4 deadline, and ensuring that you are submitting the CFAD on time. Otherwise, if there is a delay and if we don't have that, then that's going to require us to default to the prior year's final allocation distribution split. All right, I'm going to hand it over to Diana. 

DIANA BATISTA: Thanks, Mayra. That's been a lot of information to take in regarding the CFAD. So let's just back up a little bit and talk about the NOVA sequence on the CAEP deliverable submissions. And you might recall that this is how it's been for several years. We might have added a couple of steps in between, but once the CFAD is certified in NOVA, then that triggers the next few steps. First, the annual plan will become available. Once that you are able to go in and complete the annual plan, then you'll be able to access the member budget and workplan. 

But if an allocation amendment is needed due to a final allocation with state budget revisions or with your allocation amendments, the new allocation amounts must be in NOVA by September 1. So the member budget and workplan, when it's available-- I'm sorry-- will be available once the annual plan is certified. And again, members that are affected by a pending allocation amendment are unable to access the budget and workplan until the allocation amendment is completed. Each one of these steps are tied together. 

Once the allocation amendment is certified, those impacted by movement of funds will need to adjust their budgets, and NOVA will automatically place the member budget and workplan into draft status if it's not already there. I see that there's some questions in the chat, but it looks like Susan is addressing this. Thank you. Next slide. This slide, I think, shows a little bit more clearly how the system works. So we have the preliminary allocations that are entered by the state office. We have the CFAD becomes available. 

And again, you'll certify that by May 4 this year. Then the final allocations will be entered by the CAEP state office. And consortia members or consortia leads will enter the allocation amendments. Once that's completed, the annual plan becomes available, and then you can work on the member budget and work plan. You'll finalize your expenses and carry over compliance snapshot by September 30, and then that leads to program area reporting. This shows the deliverable activities for consortia and members in NOVA. 

Quarterly reporting for the current fiscal year occurs continuously. We have next year's planning and then the prior year closing simultaneously. Let me pass it over to Mandilee for a demo. Next slide. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: OK, so that's me. I was also trying to answer a question in the chat. I'm going to go ahead and-- 

DIANA BATISTA: Take a breath and multitask. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: [CHUCKLES] I'm going to go ahead and move things over to the sandbox. So the sandbox is a safe space where we can pop into NOVA and start to share and show the different ways. And what we're going to be working on today is the CFAD. So I say that it's a safe environment because I am going to be touching things. I am not going to be impacting anyone's actual information. So I've already presigned in. Can I get a thumbs up? Are we seeing the NOVA screen? OK, great. Thank you. 

So thank you, Ellen Hancock. You're always our number one consortia at the top of the list. So we're going to go ahead and use you. When you log into NOVA, you want to make sure that you-- on the left-hand menu bar, that you are in your CAEP program. Once you're near CAEP program, you're going to go to the consortia and members. This is the landing page for the consortia where you will find all of your strategic plans, all of your information. And I'm going to just scroll down. And then you'll get to your CFAD, so the Consortium Fiscal Administration Declarations. 

The name itself is listed here. The fund years, the '26-'27. You can see that it's in draft status. This is hyperlinked. Because it's in draft status, it'll allow you to start to open it up and begin the work. You will see here, again, the workflow. It has little orange here at the top. It's that kind of second navigation menu bar that'll walk you through this whole process. So here we are in the fiscal declaration. Like Mayra had said, this will allow you to select if you want to continue with the funding method either direct funded or if you're going to change that. 

And it looks like they've already started to add things. Again, it's the safe environment, so we're not going to touch too much. But if you wanted to undo you could-- there's an option to undo it. And their current distribution method is direct funded. And if you plan to move in that direction, you can either hit Yes, but if you choose to change it, then you would simply select No, change it, and then you would complete who is going to be the fiscal agent as well as any of the justification and additional narrative. So it is always an option. 

Like Mayra said, this is that time of year when you have your board meetings to have these discussions, vote on them, and then make any updates here in NOVA. And this is how the state is able to move forward. So for purposes here, we're just going to go ahead and say, no, we're not planning on changing anything. Oops. Sorry guys. Do you plan to change? No. I said no. OK. It's not reading it. So we're just going to go ahead and pretend that it took it, and then we're going to go to the next step, which is agencies and certifiers. 

So here this is another opportunity once a year to make sure that the people that are inputted into NOVA as your member representative or your leads are appropriate and correct. This is where the state as well as the TAPS will come in. And if we need to reach out and provide technical assistance or remind you of an upcoming deliverable, these are the-- these should be the most up-to-date names as well as information, meaning your phone number as well as your email. If you're adding anyone, this is the opportunity to add a person here. Otherwise, if everything looks correct, you're going to go ahead and hit Next. 

And then this is the member allocation. And this again will speak to the funding that each member is going to get. So you always want to make sure that it's zeroed out. This is where you would input those dollar amounts. So you can see here in previous year, Alan Hancock received $880,733. The number here is for the '26-'27 fiscal year. As long as that is appropriate, you can go ahead and move, continue on if you are going to change anything. For example, here, you would see that the numbers would then highlight it in red, and you would need to make sure that is zeroed out by making it balanced. 

Moving next to the next part, which is the carryover threshold. Again, you can turn it on or off. Mayra went over this in great detail. It is something that I think that everyone should really have a discussion with with your board. You can choose to-- again, this is a internal carryover threshold. So if, as a board you guys-- or a consortia, you decide, hey, maybe we want to do 19, you can easily change it to 19. That will automatically put your Q4 and it'll match that ending quarter threshold. 

We'll leave it at 20 for now. We're going to go into the governance section. These are the questions that sometimes we kind of speed through. But it is really important to make sure that all of your members are clear in the understanding of those assurances that they are approving and that they are acknowledging. And again, I'm just going to slow, quick scroll down to those 16 and 17. These are those big ones, the carryover percentage threshold. How are you guys helping each other as a consortia, providing that technical assistance? 

And then what does it look like to be an effective member here in question 18? Once this is done, you will go ahead and preview. All of the information you've inputted should be here in one quick document. And then you would submit. And because it's not allowing me to move past this, I'm going to just go ahead and hit now and see if that does it for me. Oh, OK, here we are. And then you'll submit. 

Once you submit, it'll open it up for all of your members to go in and then approve. And this is what they'll see, everything in one concise long scroll. And then it'll say awaiting approval from both voting members. OK, so with that, I'm going to go ahead and stop unless there are any questions. I wasn't really paying attention to the chat, so my apologies, but I'm going to trust that my colleagues are able to answer all of those questions. 

MAYRA DIAZ: There are some questions, Mandilee. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: OK. 

MAYRA DIAZ: For direct-funded consortia, if reallocation is voted for and approved during the fiscal year, what is the process for moving funds from one agency to another? It looks like that question was addressed, that it will. So number one, in NOVA-- and I'm checking into that. I may have to follow back up, because we had incorporated a option when you're conducting an allocation amendment in NOVA to capture, there's a section that states you identify the type of allocation amendment you're conducting. And there was supposed to be an option to select, It's Tied to Carryover Compliance, and then you would provide your explanation. 

But I'm not seeing that there, so we'll have to circle back. But once you conduct your allocation amendment in NOVA, it's then-- the next process will have to occur at the local level to ensure that you're transferring those funds. I just wanted to flag that because we've just recently completed the second year of-- consecutive year of carryover compliance tracking, if you are one of the consortium that is getting ready to act upon these allocation amendments, transferring of funds, I just want to flag a couple of things. 

First off, please ensure that between the consortia and the members, that you guys have validated and verified the amount available, because we know sometimes that there is a lag in reporting or accounting adjustments that occur and updating of records. So just be sure to verify the funding at hand as you get ready to make those local transfers. Because I know sometimes it pops up where, well, I misreported here and I actually have less money, or here's what I-- so just ensuring that you guys are validating the available funds. 

And then the allocation amendment, as we mentioned, there's a narrative where you're providing, here's the reason why we're conducting. It's tied to carryover compliance. So those are the two sections. But Mandilee, I don't know if there was any other question. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: No, I just-- so I always-- because we get this question a lot, especially with direct funded, what happens? Hey, I made the shift in NOVA. Just a little side note, I always like to say NOVA is kind of like a ledger. I know it kind of sounds like an old name, but it really it just says, hey, we moved money from here to here, but you still have to write the check. The funds still need to physically still move. So that is all-- that will always happen at the local level, whatever that method is. Sometimes it's a warrant or a transfer, but the funds do need to digitally or physically move. So yeah-- 

MAYRA DIAZ: The last question that I just wanted to raise was-- or address was from Karima, just for clarification, and because this comes up a lot. The allocations for direct-funded agencies are already set. So just want to clarify that in the January, February process that we are talking about right now, the allocations are published and made available at the consortium level. So we haven't even gotten into the granularity of have we told what the direct funded member, you know-- we haven't done that yet. That is the May through June process after the CFAD. 

So in January, we're telling you, the governor is proposing a 2.41% COLA increase. Here's the amount available. Consortium, here is your proposed allotment. Between now, March, and May, you're going to go have your discussions, vote, as Mandilee had mentioned, determine the allocation distribution. You're going to capture that in the CFAD. You're going to tell us what that split is going to be based upon ed code and all of those other criterias. We take that CFAD. And then depending on the May revise, we will then be able to put together the next big step of the process, which is where we publish the allocations, the final allocations that will show the direct-funded member and the fiscal agent allocation. 

So that is the process that occurs between May and June. We publish that. And then we hold another webinar in July. I'm sorry. Yeah, in July, and that is when we're actually walking you through, direct-funded members, you're conducting the allocation amendment. Here is the amount that the state is telling you based upon all of those other details that we covered. So I just wanted to clarify that. But we'll go back to Diana since we can answer questions at the end. 

DIANA BATISTA: Right. And Toshell asked the question about if there's a timeline. I'm going to talk about that. But there is one question here that we missed, and that was from Laura Lee saying that they allocate the COLA amongst the agencies, and they want to know with direct funded agencies if they automatically have the COLA added to their allocations. And it's my understanding that that is-- it is automatically the COLA percentages are added based on the member funding. Is that correct, Mayra? 

MAYRA DIAZ: No. So exactly what I just had shared prior, which is in January, this allocation schedule that we've published, if someone can drop it in the chat, that is coming to you at the consortia level, at the consortia split based upon our 2015 percentages that we captured. That is how we determine if the governor is proposing a 2.41% COLA increase of $16.5 million, $16 million, at the 71 consortia, here is your split. 

We have not determined at the member level how you're going to split that. That is the next steps that occurs between March and May. The consortia now have to go hold their public meetings, make that determination. You guys use your bylaws and ed code to determine the split. But it's only a COLA, so that means you can't take away the COLA from your members. And then also you can't give them less than what you-- just taking ed code into consideration following those criteria. Then you're telling the state in the CFAD, here's how we arrived at this conclusion of the allocations at the member level. 

So they're telling us that. And we take the CFAD, and we start to develop the final allocation schedule that contains the granularity of direct funded members. Now, we're telling you, based upon the split that you told us in the May CFAD, we're able to compose the final allocation schedule. I know it's very tricky, but that kind of goes to the earlier slides where we explained what happens in January, February, March, and May, and then the next important piece, which is the May through June, where we're compiling the actual-- putting together the actual granular details for the final allocations. 

But in this process, it is only at the consortia level where we've determine the COLA. Now it is up to the consortia. Look at your bylaws, look at your ed code-- make sure to revisit ed code. Maybe we can drop ed code in the chat as well for any new folks in the room. And then you are telling us in the CFAD what the member allocation will be. 

DIANA BATISTA: Thank you. Oh, there we go, Susan has it. And Holly posted the preliminary allocation schedule that was also included with the memo. I think it was last week or the week before. OK, so let's move on. The allocation amendment process, and this is all very important with all those questions that you just asked and everything that Mandilee was showing us, because when the final state budget is released, because potentially, there could be changes from January to May and then from May till June, and then we do the final calculations at the consortia level, and they will go out likely in early July. 

The state will conduct an allocation amendment for each regional consortia if there are any changes from the preliminary amounts. And then we will release the final allocation memo and schedule. And then the allocation schedule will include detailed amounts by a direct-funded member or fiscal agents. And again, the ed code states that each member will get no less than the prior year or the same percentage split. This is a key reason why it's important to break out those preliminary member allocations. 

And then Toshell, I think this answers your question earlier. Consortium must update the member allocations in alignment with the final allocations and require an adjustment to member allocations from the preliminary amounts that are due September 1. All of those allocation amounts must be in NOVA by September 1. And now I'll-- go ahead Toshell. You want to come off mute? 

AUDIENCE: So, yes, the question wasn't about the allocation process at the very beginning. The question is, during the year that if we decide to vote to transfer funds from one agency to the next, is there a stated process for how to do that for a direct-funded consortium? Timeline? Who gets contacted first? What needs to be voted on? What needs to be-- what needs to be published, so on and so forth? And then at that point, how do we transfer funds from one school to the next? Is there a timeline for that, a notification process for that? Because I haven't found anything in the fiscal document explaining that process yet. 

MAYRA DIAZ: That's that's a really good point that you're bringing Toshell, and we can certainly explain the rationale for that. I think once Diana gets into the slides of carryover compliance, we will be able to explain the why. And that ties into what the legislator told us, the update in ed code how we're tracking carryover compliance. We've always said there's two tiers. The state is tracking carryover compliance at the consortia level, we have our written expenditure plan in place, and those are the action items. But now we're in this unique year where now we have two years of carryover compliance that have lapsed. 

And so now we're ready to implement some action. And so that aligns to the second tier where the consortia have the authority to determine if they are, number one, opting in, incorporating a carryover threshold child. Number two, part of that alliance to the CFAD, where you're telling us what is a consortium doing locally. So that actually aligns to and I can't recall if we updated it in the fiscal guidance or in the program guidance. I think we did both. 

But basically that aligns to what the consortium-- if you are choosing to opt in because it's not mandated, but if you're choosing to opt in at the consortia level and track carryover amongst your members, then you're basically establishing those local protocols. We can tell you the technicality of it, which is in NOVA, you're conducting an allocation amendment. You're going to document. And then as far as the timelines for that, you may want to set that process out. 

And the only other thing I can think of is keeping in mind that funds don't expire. That would be your only competing-- you have a 30-month expenditure period. You might want to establish a local process. If you are going to be tracking carryover, what happens? We used to say what-- you're supposed to identify if you are going to be capturing this process, tracking local carryover, you want to develop a local protocol, update your bylaws. That would be something to account for. The state processes would be NOVA, allocation amendment, here's how you do it. 

Most allocation amendments, you do those throughout the year similar to this under carryover compliance. And then just keep it in mind the 30-month-- you obviously don't want to wait too long because then funds are going to expire as well. Those are the two items that I can state. And then we can look at the program guidance and fiscal management guidance. But this might be actually something that we can table as well and have the TAPS conduct like an additional follow up. Especially because we're getting to this part of where now we have two consecutive years of tracking. 

Consortia are ready to implement this, carry over or this allocation amendment process, so we can dive into that a bit more in a separate office hour or community of practice or something like that. So hopefully, that kind of addressed-- I think we'll let Diana go through the slides so we can finish up. And then we'll open it up at the end for questions, because she still has some items to talk about actually on carryover compliance. So I think we can pause and ask questions at the end. 

DIANA BATISTA: Right, but first we were going to have Mayra do a quick little demo on the allocation amendment process. Go ahead, Mayra. Excuse me, Mandilee. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Oh, I liked the idea of Mayra doing it. No. [CHUCKLES] We're going to go ahead and transfer-- we are actually going to walk through the allocation amendment process. So let me just get over to NOVA. You should be now seeing my NOVA screen. We're not going to pick on Alan Hancock this time. So when you log into NOVA, you're always going to have your menu bar here again on the left-hand side. I'm already in the CAEP. I go to the Consortia and Members for all Allocation. This is where you'll find-- again, it's your one stop for the consortia. 

So all member agencies contact information, all of your strategic plans, including your CFAD, and then your allocations. So here you'll see the allocations, and then you will start an amendment. So this is the allocation amendment process. Right now, because we are using the sandbox, it really is just a safe environment that's mirroring what's currently in NOVA. So there are no additional funds here that need to be allocated. When everything gets entered into NOVA, you'll likely see dollar amount here, and that is when you would hit your start the amendment. 

So that is really taking into account the May revise. If you were just going to amend funds for whatever other reasons, you would still click Start The Amendment Process. I'm going to go ahead and hit Continue because this is amending. We're going to just amend for the '25-'26 year just to walk through this. And if there are any specific questions, like Mayra said, you can always reach out to the TAPS. We can jump on and do a one-on-one, kind of a Zoom support to walk you through specific questions that you may have. 

So again, you just want to make sure that all of your agencies and certifiers are here complete and correct. You can hit the Next button in the right-hand corner, or you can use your workflow navigation bar here. And then we go into the member allocations. As Mayra had noted, there are different types of allocations that we've identified that typically happen throughout the year. Of course, the May revise, a standard member transfer. So for whatever reasons, as a consortia, you've decided to move money amongst your membership, it would just be a standard member transfer. 

And then again, if here is a newer button, if you've decided to add on an additional funded member. And I did see, Myara, that there-- I saw it yesterday when I was in it, there is going to be, at some point, one that'll be specific to carryover. I don't know why we're not seeing it today, but I did see it. 

MAYRA DIAZ: It was there, right? 

MANDILEE GONZALES: It was. It was there. We haven't lost our mind yet. OK, so today. I'm just going to go ahead and just say May revise. You would provide any type of a narrative that would explain why this amendment is happening. I'll go ahead and put in test. And then as you scroll down, this is where you're going to see what those current allocations are. Then you have the boxes where you're able to manipulate and change any of the proposed allocations. So here just to keep it simple, and I also am trying to be mindful of time, we're going to just go ahead and take away $100 from Baker Valley Unified. 

So if we're going to take away and make this adjustment of $100, you see here that it immediately will give you that number in red. And then we're going to go ahead and give it to Barstow Unified. So we'll go ahead and give this $100 to Barstow Unified. The moment I do that, the adjustment column will offset. So it'll be taking away from Baker and then giving to Barstow and then providing you with a total remaining dollar amount of $0. You want to make sure that this is always zeroed out before you move forward to your next step. 

So again, you can hit this Next button here, or you can use your menu bar and then go to the next piece, which is Preview. It'll kind of roll everything up that you've already kind of agreed to. And then you would simply hit Submit. And once you hit Submit, it'll ask you for this quick narrative. We're just going to go ahead and hit Test. But I want you to see that it changes the already approved allocations. Now it's converted that because now you're submitting an amendment to that. And then you're going to have-- all of your members will then be-- they should get a notification. They should already be anticipating this because the assumption is you've already agreed to it in a meeting. 

And then each voting member will go in, review, and then hit approve as a consortia lead, which is the rights that I currently have here. So I can't show you what it would look like as a member. You can hit Send Reminder as a consortia leader manager. And then the member should have a button that'll say approve. And then every member should then at that point approve. OK, I'm going to go ahead and stop sharing this, and we're going to go back to our presentation. here. 

DIANA BATISTA: OK, in the interest of time, I think, Eileen, we're going to hold on to your question for now. I just have a couple of slides to get through so that then we can address some questions. So this is a reminder-- and Mayra did talked about this earlier-- that we did start doing the carryover compliance tracking. And it's calculated in NOVA September 30 at-- I always say midnight, but I guess it's 11:59 PM. So you want to make sure that you're current on all of your expenses and so forth. Any consortium with carryover greater than 20% are flagged in NOVA. 

And then that triggers a written expenditure plan that will need to be submitted. And we're looking at also that the consortia who are looking to reduce the members excessive carryover by majority vote, the member must have excessive carryover for at least two consecutive fiscal years. So keep that in mind. The next slide, please. So AB 1491 was the Assembly bill that addressed carryover compliance. And we're asking that members vote to set a carryover percentage as demonstrated in NOVA. 

The member funding for one year may be impacted after two years are assessed. Consortia exceeding 20% carryover annually are monitored by the Chancellor's Office in CDE. And if you're exceeding carryover annually, again, you're required to submit a written expenditure plan. And you'll be assigned technical assistance by the Chancellor's Office and CDE. Both of our technical assistance projects have been working closely with those that have carryover. Next slide, please. And again, there is two levels of carryover. One is at the consortia level, and the other is at the member level. 

The consortia must monitor at the consortia level if you're exceeding the 20% carryover, and that is monitored by the Chancellor's Office and CDE. Consortia that exceed 20% carryover are required to submit the written expenditure plan. Consortia exceeding the 20% carryover will get technical assistance from the Chancellor's Office and CDE to help prevent future carryover. And I'm pleased to say we have some good news on that front. At the member level, the action may be taken that the members may vote to set a carryover percentage. Remember, we're recommending 20% or you can set what's best at the member level. 

After two consecutive years of exceeding the threshold, then the carryover amount may be reallocated after majority vote. Only the carryover amount may be reallocated, and it does not impact future allocations of each member. The annual allocation cannot be reduced. Next slide, please. On this slide, you can see what has happened in the past. The first year that we did '24-- excuse me, '23-'24, we had 33 consortia who had to submit a written expenditure plan. 

And they were very detailed, and we were monitoring how they were doing. And many of them did, in fact, spend down so that in '24-'25 this past September, and we only had 20 consortia that had to submit their written expenditure plan. And again, we are providing technical assistance and monitoring the expenses. Many of them were well written and had great plans-- and you can go to the next slide, please-- of how this was going to be conducted. And I think we're pleased with the process. 

So over time, more consortium members have chosen to opt in and sending the internal carryover. And it makes it easier, I believe, for monitoring. 20% is the most commonly adopted internal member threshold. I think that you can see the numbers of those that have opted out, but it's nice to see that more are complying with it and using the system. Next slide. So in summary, like I said, in '24-'25, only 20 consortia of the 71 were flagged for exceeding the 20% carryover. We've been working with them. And for '25-'26, we just want to remind consortia and members to review your current expenditure progress and please address any carryover balances. 

Consecutive member level carryover will continue to be tracked in NOVA, and technical support and other resources are available via CAEP TAP. And next slide. So I think this is my final slide. Just a reminder of the fiscal reporting important dates in March. Your member expense report is due in NOVA. We have the end of Q3 due at the end of this month. And the member expense report will be certified by consortia in NOVA June, the same thing for Q4. And September, we're doing the member expense report certified by consortia. And carryover compliance is calculated at 11:59 on September 30. Next slide. And I pass it back to Mayra. 

MAYRA DIAZ: Thank you, Diana. And just a quick update on the CAEP planning. So this all ties into your three-year plan and your annual plan. A reminder that three-year plan was completed last year, June 2025. That carries you out to June 2028. And the three-year plan, it's an opportunity for consortium members to join in Student Center strategic planning for regional needs. We actually analyzed the 71 plans, and we'll be getting ready to share the analysis with the field. And we'll make sure to market that, work with the CAEP TAP to make that public. 

What's applicable to you in this year is the annual plan, which is the annual update to the three-year plan that you will be conducting after the CFAD, after the allocation amendment or the allocation processes that we roll out. So that'll be a deliverable that is due in August 15. Next slide, please. And then the only reminder that I wanted to flag is as we were talking about carryover and wrapping up the carryover conversation that the annual plan is also there's a section in there that allows you to address once again, how are you going to address the carryover that you have as you're assessing that for the year. 

So education code calls out the requirement of consortia to have a three-year plan. and then conduct an annual update. So the annual update is a subset of the three-year plan, and you'll be able to revisit that no later than August 15 is when it's due this year. And TAP may be hosting an office hour to dive in a bit deeper to that once you complete your CFAD as we shared in the deliverables, the NOVA deliverables, your annual plan will become available. 

So submitting your CFAD will open up your annual plan. There are no changes from last year's annual plan. It's the same format. No changes to be expected. And you'll be able to complete that and submit that no later than August 15. Next slide, please. OK, Mandilee. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: OK, so I know that we've thrown a lot of dates out at you, and I know that Holly has shared the PowerPoint with you, but this is just really those kind of high level reminders and timelines of deadlines that are coming up. So the next big one is the May 2, for this year, the May 4, the CFAD certification. And then once that is complete, like Mayra said, your annual plan. What I do want to highlight, and I did overlook it, is when you go in and if you and when you do an allocation, it will open up your budget and workplan. 

So if you are moving money throughout the year at any given point, your budget and workplan will open because for whatever member released money or is accepting money, they will then have to adjust that portion. So I just want to highlight that as well. Other big reminders and deadlines are your certification of allocation amendments, as I'm talking about September 1. So that should at that point have any adjustments from the May revise, which will then be released in July. You must update that in NOVA by September 1. 

And then again, remember, budget and workplan should be submitted by the 30th, so at the end of that month. And then your consortium, all of your certifications, member budget and workplans, October 30. And then your program area report is due December 1 along with your key one expenditure report. But the program area report does seem to trip people up. And just a little side note, even if you don't need to report, you still have to toggle a button or click a button that says, hey, we don't actually have to report. It allows your whole consortia to move forward with that CAEP deliverable. 

You have all of the resources on our caladulted.org website. Anytime we have a recording that is remediated, we post it to the webinars along with any supporting documents. So currently, if you went to our website right now, you would go to Administrators. You would find Webinars. And then under the Fiscal, you'll see that we already have uploaded the PowerPoint to today's webinar. And as soon as today's recording is complete, we will add it there as well in addition to templates, fiscal guidance, all of the information that you require, hopefully, to support you through your CAEP deliverables. 

And if you don't find what you need, you can always reach out to us here. You can log on to the request support from your CAEP TAP. You simply submit a support request. We'll get back to you as soon as we can. I see, John, you have your hand raised. Great timing because we are at that point where we will take questions. We are a minute over, so I do want to be mindful of time. 

AUDIENCE: Yeah, I appreciate you staying over. I don't mind staying myself. So I know 1491 has come through, and carryover is the big focus of 1491. And I understand that we're not allowed to change allocations other than these carryover-- we don't have carryover issues with our consortium, our members, but we have other issues. And so I wanted to just sort of throw some theoreticals out. It says that you can't change the original allocation amount. 

And I mean, it begs the question to me, is it the original allocation amount from 2014 or 2020? Or what original allocation amount is not allowed to be touched? And that's more of a rhetorical question. If I have a member who completely jettisons two of their programs, and so they were funded at a certain amount-- this is a hypothetical-- they were funded at a certain amount, and then they just get rid of two programs, do I continue to fund them at their allocated amount? 

Conversely, if there's a member-- just conversely, if there's a member that wants-- that hasn't been receiving any funds but is a member of the consortium and now wants funds, do I not fund them because we can't touch our allocation from whatever period of time our allocation came? 

MANDILEE GONZALES: So here's what I'm going to say. Happy to continue to have these conversations. I'll give a quick answer. And then if anyone else wants to jump in, please do. I also put our email in the chat, so you can always reach out to us, and we can have a deeper conversation around that. So when you talk about programs and effectiveness, that's really when that member effectiveness kicks in. So that will be a process that we would want to have a discussion with you around, this theoretical situation. If you were to move to or if you had a member who decided, hey, we can't participate anymore, so they are then stepping away from the consortia, then you would have the discussion around funding at that point. Does that kind of-- 

AUDIENCE: Well, neither one of those situations are really the situation that I'm talking about. If they don't have a carryover issue, and they're not leaving entirely-- so just say somebody gets to $200,000, but now I'm not going to use $200,000 to run the one program. I need $75,000. So I'm now where the board is now deliberating to take $125,000 of their allocation, whatever period of time that allocation is supposed to have not been touched. The allocation's being cut, and that seems to be going against the law is what I'm understanding AB 1491. 

And also, when somebody that hasn't been getting funds at all is now wanting funds, we're going to have to reallocate funds from all the members in order to-- which means that people are going to be getting less than their last year allocation, just for example. So there's a member that has not been getting funds that now wants funds. And so how do we address that without cutting other folks' allocation if it's more than the COLA? 

MAYRA DIAZ: Oh, that's a common-- oh, you have a new member that wants to join or be a part and receive funding. And that's, unfortunately, a limitation. But I just wanted to flag, John, that AB 1491 is specifically for carryover compliance. That legislation is only focused on excessive carryover. So the other scenarios would be treated different based upon the ed code that Mandilee was basically mentioning. There are some limitations, obviously, because ed code says you can't receive less than the prior year's allocation. 

So then you go through, what's the next checklist item? Because there's three buckets, four buckets under one ed code. that'll say the member effectiveness that would determine-- but it doesn't sound like you're trying to panel-- well, I don't know if you guys are trying to determine if the member is willing to give up their funding or not. But yeah, there's just a lot of limitations. But do know that carryover compliance and the guidance that we've posted is specific to excessive carryover. 

So if your consortia does not have excessive carryover, then that does not apply, then we would go and look at ed code, and we would be able to share with you what Mandilee was saying. Here are your options. Based on the scenarios, here's really what you can do, and or maybe not much that you might be able to do, but we can share with you what are some of those-- to be in compliance with ed code. 

AUDIENCE: The best I can say-- the best I can say is that's troubling, because if the member says, I don't have these programs anymore, I'm going, I want to give the money back, can they not do that, because ed code says you have to be funded at the same level as last year? 

MAYRA DIAZ: That is one of the ed code. 

AUDIENCE: They can't get the money back? We have to just keep giving them the money, even though they don't have the programs? 

MAYRA DIAZ: That's actually one of the buckets that were mentioned, that we called out. We might be able to share ed code. But if the member is willing to-- if they no longer have programs, that's one of the allowable ed code options, yeah. 

AUDIENCE: Was that on the-- Did you show that slide? 

MAYRA DIAZ: You're going to somewhat see that in carryover compliance. But that policy is talking specifically about how you're addressing carryover compliance. So what you're bringing up is specific to just ed code in general. And so we might be able to-- I think she did drop it in the chat. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Susan dropped it in the chat. And then I would say just, because we are more past time, John, if you want, I can continue to have the conversation-- 

AUDIENCE: If you wouldn't mind, Mandilee, if I could email you, we could-- 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Absolutely. 

AUDIENCE: --would really appreciate guidance because I'm a little nervous right now. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Let's set up a time, and we can get on a call, and we can walk through all of your questions. Does that sound fair? 

AUDIENCE: Awesome. Yes, it does, yes. 

DIANA BATISTA: It wasn't covered in today's slides, John. We didn't talk about member effectiveness. 

AUDIENCE: OK, good. Thank you, Diana. Thank you. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: OK. All right, everyone, thank you so much for joining us this Wednesday morning. John, great question. We'll continue to have it. If you haven't already, you can save the chat. There was a lot of links along with the PowerPoint. I would recommend that you click those three dots, save the chat, and then just know that we will be sharing out the PowerPoint with everybody again. It is on the website. And once today's webinar is remediated, we'll share that out. I want to thank 

Mayra Diaz with the Chancellor's Office, Diana Batista with CDE, and then our colleagues at NOCE CAEP TAP, who've been on the call with us. And Holly Clark, thank you guys all for helping make this webinar possible. We hope to see you guys soon. Bye for now.