MAYRA DIAZ: Thank you, Holly. Good morning, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us this morning for this office hour. We do have a formal presentation that we'll cover, but we will be opening it up for questions for those of you that may need to chime in and have some questions. So what we're going to do today during this hour that we have is we're going to go over introductions. 

We're going to walk through our carryover compliance overview. We are gearing up for this annual process, which, believe it or not, we are-- this is going to be our third year of carryover compliance monitoring and tracking. And so we are also going to be briefly going over the written expenditure plan and then also some technical assistance and resources tools that are available. 

Our TAP teams that are here will also be going over some fiscal technical assistance components and providing you with some nuts and bolts in preparation for this September 30 snapshot and what is to come after that date. And then, of course, we'll open it up for some questions. Next slide, please. 

As noted-- good morning-- my name is Mayra. I'm the program lead with the California Community College Chancellor's Office, working on the California Adult Education Program and the Health Pathways Initiative. I am joined by my colleagues this morning, Mandilee Gonzales with the CAEP Technical Assistance Office, and Lisa Mednick Takami with the CAEP Technical Assistance Office as well, and then, of course, Holly, who conducted the housekeeping this morning. So thank you to our team who's always here to support and help keep us on track. Next slide, please. 

So we're going to start this presentation by going over just a couple of reminders. This is year three. And so going over some policy reminders of this carryover compliance that has been in place, we began tracking as of fiscal year '23-'24. And as noted earlier, we are gearing up for our third year of carryover compliance tracking, and that is going to assess this fiscal year that just ended '25-'26. 

This carryover compliance is captured in Education Code. It was actually amended back in 2022. in our CAEP office. Our system began to implement and track as of '23-'24. There are two aspects to this carryover compliance that impact members and consortia differently, and we will go over that. Next slide, please. 

So consortium carryover compliance. This is the first aspect that we are going to hone in to this morning. And so with AB 1491, this first aspect is assessing and tracking consortium-level carryover from one or more prior fiscal years for consortia that exceed the 20% carryover threshold. So what happens when we conduct this annual process is, for consortia that have exceeded the 20% carryover threshold, they will be prompted to complete a written expenditure plan in NOVA. This will be an automatic process. 

This plan will be due in NOVA that actually gets reviewed by the CAEP office, including the Chancellor's Office, the California Department of Education, and we work collectively with our CAEP TAP. The deadline for the written expenditure plan is generally 45 days to submit. So on September 30, we will have our carryover compliance snapshot, September 30, 11:59 PM. Within that week, we typically will assess. We'll run a list. We'll assess who which consortia have been flagged for exceeding the 20% carryover threshold, and then we issue out a notification email to the consortia. 

In addition to the formal email, consortia will be able to see this trigger in NOVA. You will see the written expenditure plan feature pop populate as a required deliverable for the consortia to complete, and you will have 45 days to complete this written expenditure plan. November 15 does fall on a Sunday, and so it will be due that preceding day, which is that Monday, November 16. 

For consortia that are flagged, the chancellor and the superintendent will-- and this is called out in legislation. So in addition to completing the written expenditure plan, we are required to prescribe and assign technical assistance to that consortium to ensure that adequate adult education services are provided to the region in proportion to the region's available funding. So in addition to the written expenditure plan, we will work with our CAEP TAP office, our SCOE partners and NOCE partners that will be reaching out to provide this prescribed assigned technical assistance. Next slide, please. 

So now, we're going to dive into the second tier of carryover compliance tracking, and that is the member carryover compliance aspect. So the legislation calls for consortia carryover tracking, which is all of the members as a whole that is collectively adding and aggregating that total carryover that can put a consortium potentially over that 20% threshold. 

And then in addition, legislation also calls that the consortium members may participate in this carryover monitoring and tracking within the consortia. So the distinction between the member carryover tracking is that the member-level carryover is not outlined in legislation. There's no set percentage threshold called out in legislation, as there is at the consortia level, where it states 20% or more. 

At the member level, how you can opt in if you choose to track the carryover, that process occurs during the annual CFAD. So members will be able to vote. Typically, once we release the preliminary allocations, you have that window between February through May, where members are not only deciding on how they're going to distribute their preliminary allocations, but also, because you're completing the CFAD and filling out the sections, one of those sections is going to be deciding if you want to track carryover at the member level, and you will be able to vote and decide on your own percent carryover threshold that you would like to enter into the CFAD. 

This is an annual process, which means, if you opted in year one or year two and you guys want to decide to change that percentage-- you started at 20, you may want to change that-- you have the ability to make those changes on an annual basis. Member funding for one year may be impacted after two consecutive years are assessed. So in legislation, it specifically calls out for two consecutive years at the member level. 

For consortia, in the prior slide, we are assessing that carryover, the 20% carryover, on an annual basis. That is happening on an annual basis. At a member level, if you opt in as a consortia to track member-level carryover, action may not be taken, unless there has been a member with excessive carryover based upon the threshold that you guys decided and opted into the CFAD. 

That's helping track in the system after two consecutive years are assessed, and that is called out in legislation. So there has to be two consecutive years of member-level carryover of whatever threshold you guys decided locally. Once those two years are up, then the consortia can vote and decide how to proceed with that carryover, that excess carryover. 

And so this is a snapshot of how it looks like in NOVA. And you may recall if you recently underwent this process, or you may want to go back and look at your CFAD to see, hey, what did we agree to? And you will see how that-- you will see the carryover threshold populated that was entered by the consortia. Next slide, please. 

So as noted, I talked about consortia carryover compliance. That was the policy aspect. And so now what we're showing you is the technical. How does this look in NOVA? So back in 2022, 2023, when we were getting ready to launch this carryover compliance initiative, we updated the system in NOVA so that it aligns to the legislation, and that annual excessive carryover at the consortia and member level could be tracked consistently. 

At the consortia level, as noted, you're going to see this on an annual basis. When you log into your fiscal reports, throughout the year, you will be able to see your carryover at the top right where it says total carryover. If it's in red, you're going to be able to see what that percentage looks like, and it will give you a picture as you're a snapshot as you're completing. And as you're completing entering your fiscal reports, those amounts will update accordingly. And so we will have consortia that have been flagged for carryover as noted. They will be required to submit a written expenditure plan and be assigned technical assistance by the Chancellor's Office. 

So a reminder that our system is tracking this. We are gearing up for this September 30 snapshot, that the system will be taking the snapshot of 11:59, which is also a reminder of how critical it is that consortia and their members are completing the fiscal reports before this deadline in order to capture and track accurate carryover compliance. 

That is very critical, because if you are not completing your fiscal reports in time and submitting them, the total amount of carryover that is in that snapshot is not going to be accurate, and it could cause some issues. So it is very critical that consortia and their members-- and our TAP is going to talk more about that in this later part of this webinar. Next slide, please. Oh, there it goes. 

I'm going to talk about the NOVA component, and I'm going to let Mandilee talk about the technical assistance, the tools and the resources that they provide. From the NOVA technical component-- and this might actually be a live demo that we can do. But possibly, it might be in a future office hour, a live demo after the 9/30, the September 30 snapshot. 

But just a couple of reminders of tools that you can be using throughout the year. Monitoring carryover is something that should be happening throughout the year. So that you, at a local level, as a member, have that responsibility to ensure that you are assessing your carryover as you're completing these fiscal reports. You're submitting them on time. But most importantly, really looking at how much carryover you have and trying to spend those funds down in accordance with your annual plan, your three-year plan, and really spending it on today's students, because that member-level carryover is what is going to impact that annual carryover assessment that we are conducting at a consortium level. 

So you can be using tools in NOVA, such as the forecasting tool. There's the expenditure threshold percentage tool. That was visible in the prior slide. So whenever you are completing your CFAD and if you decide to opt in by entering a member-level carryover threshold, you also have the ability to enter the percentages that you want the system to be tracking. 

So as your members are completing their fiscal reports, if the system is recognizing that you have a certain amount of carryover, the members will be prompted to complete a member-level corrective action plan in your fiscal report. So that will be a reminder that you will see populate throughout the year. And that is the member corrective action plan, where it requires and prompts the member to provide a narrative explaining, what's the rationale for this carryover that the member is having? And those percentages are aligned to the expenditure threshold percentage that is set in the CFAD. 

As noted, the CFAD is another area, and this is an annual process that you're actually conducting and participating in earlier in the year. From the moment that the Chancellor's Office, the CAEP state office, releases the preliminary allocations usually by February, late February, you have the ability to embark in these conversations locally as you're completing and having these public meetings with your members on the CFAD. 

And pay attention. There's two particular questions tied to carryover compliance in the governance section, and that is question number 16 and question number 17. And then in addition to incorporating a member-level carryover threshold that you only have the ability to do once a year, because once a CFAD is submitted, it cannot be edited. There's no changes that can be made through the CFAD. You have to wait until the following year. 

And I've seen where there-- we've read a couple of written expenditure plans where it sounds like sometimes some consortia decide to implement a threshold locally. I would recommend that, if you are participating in this carryover compliance tracking, do leverage the tools, because if you are entering this in NOVA, starting with the CFAD, the system is tracking it for you, and it's using all of these triggers and tools and flags versus if you are just tracking it locally. 

And so it all starts during the CFAD process by entering a-- if you decide to opt in as a consortia and track member-level carryover, then that is your starting point at the beginning of the year so that throughout that year, the carryover compliance at the member level is being tracked and the tools are being leveraged. For consortia, that is happening across the state, irregardless, through our enhancements that we have embedded in NOVA. So we are still monitoring and tracking the consortia-level carryover that is obviously determined by the member-level carryover. 

In addition, the annual plan-- there's one annual plan question on carryover. So as you're completing your annual plan, which is-- typically, you're doing that after the CFAD is submitted, and that is post May 2 through August 15. You have that window when you are completing your annual plan. There is a question on carryover compliance fiscal management section, how you are going to address your carryover expenditures. 

And then, of course, there's always reports available. We had embedded-- there are two specific dashboards in NOVA that you can be referring to as a member. One of them, whenever we had conducted the enhancements in NOVA to implement this carryover compliance tracking, we specifically embedded a dashboard with some helpful tools for the field that you can use to monitor and assess your carryover, and you can look at what that looks like at your member level. I'm going to turn it over to Mandilee, and she can walk us through the CAEP technical assistance, additional tools and resources. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Thanks, Mayra. So as you can tell, NOVA is going to provide you with bedrock of different tools. But we also know that NOVA can sometimes be tricky if you're not used to jumping into it and navigating that, and that is where your TAPs are here to support you. 

So we do that through ways. We can do that through the one-on-one support. But we also provide a new admin onboarding. We usually do that throughout-- we do that once a year. But then, if you have new members or other people who are being onboarded or if you have questions about governance or some administrative functions, your TAPs are here to support you, and this is where we come in. 

And if you have questions about, how does my annual plan connect to my carryover compliance? Where is this in my three-year plan? Do all of these strategic plans in NOVA make sense? And how do I read through those? And how do I make those actionable and meaningful in how we're supporting programmatic support to our community and to our learners? And that is where your TAPs are here. We're here to help you navigate some of those tools that are already there and make it make sense for you. 

There is that one line in legislation where it does say that the state will mandate that technical assistance. And we are here to say that it is not punitive. We are here just to be that extra layer of support, and that is that targeted technical assistance. It sounds like it doesn't-- it sounds punitive. But I hope if you get assigned that targeted technical assistance, we are your people, and we are here to support you. 

And what that looks like is we support in reviewing your written expenditure plan. If you even need help creating that written expenditure plan, we are that resource to ensure that you are providing the level of detail that our CAEP leadership is looking for, with actionable items, with a timeline. And then in that process, depending on why you landed in that carryover compliance, we start to unravel some different aspects and help you develop that plan that's actionable and approved by all of your members to move forward. 

We provide NOVA workshops professional development throughout the year. We can do this. If you ever take a look at on our events page, we typically will tie those NOVA aspects to some of your CAEP deliverables, maybe. We've also been invited into spaces where consortium boards are saying, hey, we have a PD day, or we have one over X days, and we're going over what it looks like to be a CAEP member and some of those NOVA deliverables. And we'll walk into those meetings virtually. And if we can do it in person, we can. But California is big, and sometimes virtual is a better option. We'll pop in, and we can go over any aspect of NOVA. 

And Yes, as it relates to carryover compliance, but also all of your fiscal quarterly reports, we will set up peer learning circles talking about topics where everyone can come into the room. We understand that we are not always the experts on all items, but those PLCs are supportive to connecting with other leads. If you are a director, that we are doing the director's corner and the coffee chat-- sorry, the director's-- Lisa, is the coffee chat, right? 

LISA MEDNICK TAKAMI: Yes, monthly virtual coffee chat for directors. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Thank you. 

LISA MEDNICK TAKAMI: Sure. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: So we're here to provide space where you are able to talk with one another, learn from one another. But we're also here to provide that technical assistance and support as you navigate not only this particular deliverable and compliance aspect, but as the program as a whole. And I'm going to go ahead and move forward. Now, the next piece is on the compliance tracking and identification. Mayra, I didn't know if you wanted to continue on, or if you wanted-- 

MAYRA DIAZ: Let's see. What is it? The compliance tracking and identification. What I just want to flag on this slide is-- and we have a way. And I don't know if Mandilee and Holly can pull that data as we're in this webinar. But we can take a look and see how many Q4s have already been submitted and certified and what that picture currently looks like. But-- 

[INTERPOSING VOICES] 

MANDILEE GONZALES: I was just going to say Holly is nodding. We actually had a meeting this morning where we were going over and looking at some of the Q4s. But I don't know if you have that. I know you have the information accessible, Holly, but do you have the slide available? 

HOLLY CLARK: Let me take a look. Give me just a few minutes. 

MAYRA DIAZ: Thank you, Holly. As Holly is looking up that information, we really want to remind the field-- and the TAP will go through this more in depth later on in this session. But we really want to remind the field of how critical it is to get your order for report submitted, your expenditure report submitted, on time by the deadline and certified. 

That is the key, certified, because our system is programmed to take a snapshot on September 30 at 11:59 PM. And that is when-- after that date, after that time, if a consortium has excessive carryover exceeding the 20% threshold, then a tag will appear in the consortium, and that is how they will be flagged. And it'll identify if it's the first year or so. 

And, believe it or not, we have consortia that have been repeat offenders. Have had excessive carryover year one, year two. And we're hoping they're not on our list for year three, but we will be working to address that if that does occur. And so just really want to flag and elevate what we've been talking about in ensuring that members are assessing the carryover, because, really, it's the members' carryover that is impacting the consortia carryover as a whole. 

From the member standpoint, if you have opted in during the CFAD process and your consortium entered a carryover threshold, then once this September 30 snapshot occurs, you will either see a-- CC stands for Carryover Compliance-- one year or CC, Carryover Compliance, two years. And what that means is either that particular member-- and it will be tagged next to each member. So it will let us know if that member has had one year of excessive carryover or two years of excessive carryover. 

And why does that matter? That goes back to the legislation language that talks about the member carryover must be a two consecutive year excess carryover before the consortia can take action, and voting to either decide to reallocate that carryover amount or determine how that carryover amount will be determined. Those are all local decisions that you are all voting on and deciding on. The system has just been updated to help with that tracking. And so that is where, if you opted in as a consortia during the CFAD, the system is going to be flagging and tracking, and that is what those triggers represent. Can I do anything else? 

HOLLY CLARK: I have your figures for you. So 40 consortia have certified their Q4. 10 consortium are pending certification, which means all of their members have submitted. And then we have 21 consortia where members have not submitted. They are either amending their fiscal reports. They're doing budget revisions, whatever it is. 21 have not finalized and submitted their Q4s. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Thank you. And then, Mayra, if you want, I can advance the slide. The next one does show just what that ribbon looks like at a consortium level. And if we have time, we can open up NOVA, too. 

MAYRA DIAZ: Perfect. Our next slide, please. So this is just a snapshot of how this looks like in the fiscal reporting. You have the ability to click on that carryover compliance, and it provides you with the legislative definition of what carryover compliance means in Ed Code and the definition and how this is being assessed and tracked. Next slide, please. And then the tab will be able to walk through and conduct a demo. 

As far as calculating the 20% carryover, both consortium and member annual carryovers are calculated from the annual fiscal year, and therefore, triggered if it exceeds 20%. And this is so important because in CAEP, CAEP funding comes with a 30-month expenditure spend-down timeline, and then it also leverages the FIFO method, First In, First Out. 

So you would think, well, I've got 30 months to spend my money. Well, this legislation that came in 2022 is looking at, irregardless of that 30-month time frame that you have to spend down those funds, if you have over 20% carryover as a consortia, you are being flagged. The state is not going to take away the money, and that was one thing that we wanted to note versus when I mentioned the member-level carryover in the impact. At the consortia level, the state is not able to come in and take away any funding. The measures that we take is the trigger of the expenditure plan and the prescribed technical assistance. 

However, at the member level, you have the ability to opt in track carryover for two consecutive years. And if members have an excess carryover for that period, then members can decide to reallocate that carryover, excess carryover funds, only that excess carryover fund. It does not eliminate or impact their base funding that they receive on an annual basis. It is just looking at that excess carryover that member was unable to spend. And those are all local decisions that you guys decide how you want to address the member-level carryover. For the consortium, obviously, this includes all of the carryover of its members. 

And when it comes to the calculation component and how we are capturing and tracking this in NOVA, we're looking at it from an annual perspective. So we're looking at the fiscal year annual allocation minus the current fiscal year expenditures, and that would equal the carryover amount. When it comes to the carryover amount, you divide that by the fiscal year allocation, and that's what gives us the percentage that you have. 

And as a reminder, this is why it's so important because our system, for you to submit-- because if you haven't submitted-- and this happens. If you have not submitted and certified your Q4, the system is going to take a snapshot, which means that carryover balance and how we're calculating is not going to be accurate. And that is because your Q4 expenditures have not been reflected. So it's showing that you have more money than what you actually have because you have not been able to report, and the system has not calculated those expenditures that you're certifying in your Q4. So that is super important. 

If you happen to be that consortia that did not certify your Q4 by September 30, you need to reach out to us. You need to reach out to us so that we can look once you have certified. And we don't want that to happen, but we do have some special-case scenarios on how to address that or some circumstances and measures that we can take if that happens. But it is your responsibility to ensure that you reach out to us if that happens in order to ensure that we are capturing an accurate carryover amount reflected in that snapshot. Next slide, please. 

So now we're going to dive into the written expenditure plan, and this is a good opportunity. Some of you may have an idea, especially if you've been tracking your carryover. Some of you are here being proactive, which is excellent. And you know you might be flagged for consortium-level carryover, and so you're preparing. You're preparing for what's to come. I'm being flagged. This is my first time, or I'm potentially a repeat offender. I might triggered again. So we might have to complete this process. 

So as of right now, we'll be able to give you an update on what is this written expenditure plan going to look like once it is released after the September 30 snapshot. So as of right now, it's not available obviously, because we have to wait for the September 30 snapshot. After that period, the system will automatically capture and flag how many consortia. And we don't have a slide on here, but we do have this data where I'm going to guess. I'm going to try and recollect, and maybe the TAP can correct me. 

In year one, when we first assessed the carryover '23-'24 after that period, there was about 40-ish, 41, 43 black consortia that had to complete a written expenditure plan. And then in year two, '24-'25, that dropped to about 20. So we're hoping in year three as we assess this '25-'26, that drops to about 10, is what we're hoping for. I'd be very surprised if our numbers go back up, but really hoping to see that the excessive carryover drop. 

And why is that important? It's important because our legislatures are looking at that, especially within the California Community College System, where we've had strong workforce funds be redirected or funds be cut. And the legislature is always looking at excessive carryover, how much carryover. We're getting inquiries from the Legislative Analyst's Office. 

And so therefore, CAEP is not a program that we've gotten inquiries in the past. And so it's very important that our consortia members, it is great that we continue to receive support and funding, and we want to make sure that we are showing the legislature that these funds are being spent. They're not just being carried over from year to year. They're having an impact. They're producing outcomes, and they're being spent down. So it's not a good picture when consortia continue to have excess carryover and their members. Obviously, that's a member-level carryover. It's not a good picture. It's not a good explanation. And so we want to make sure that excessive carryover is really reduced. 

And the written expenditure plan as of right now, I think the next slide, you'll be able to see what this is going to look like. This is how it's going to look like if you get flagged. You will be able to see this deliverable populate. You're not going to see it now. You're going to see it on October 1 if your consortia has been flagged for this excess carryover. 

At the very bottom, when you log into your consortia page below the budget and work plan, it's going to populate. You're going to see if you've been flagged for the expenditure plan, and the year will be '25-'26. This is an example of a consortia that was flagged last year, and you should be able to see the history. So if you were flagged in year one, year two, year three, you're going to see the plans documented and captured in there. If you don't see this, that means you're good. You've never been flagged. You're not going to see this feature populate. Next slide, please. 

Once it populates, you will be able to click on that written expenditure plan, and you will be able to begin to fill out or address the questions that we have. As of right now, these are the final questions that we have for the written expenditure plan and what you will be asked to address pertaining to your consortium, your members, your listing out, and providing some rationales, like number four, describe the circumstances that led the consortium to exceed the consortium-level carryover threshold and include information. 

If you are flagged and you want to be able to receive an approval, we have three categories that when we're reviewing these written expenditure plans between the CAEP office, California Community Colleges, the Chancellor's Office and the California Department of Education and the CAEP TAP, we are really looking at the intentionality and the rationale that you are providing. 

So if you are flagged for this excessive carryover as a consortium, you are going to want to provide some very descriptive measures, rationale for one, why you were placed in carryover. What was the impact? And then two, most importantly, what is your action plan? How are you and your members going to reduce carryover? How intentional and what rational, reasonable, action-oriented approaches are you going to take? So that'll be very critical. 

Our three categories of approval when we review these plans are approved. If they're approved, you receive a full NOVA approval. There's nothing else you have to do. You will be prescribed technical assistance. You carry on with your action plan that you are going to implement to reduce carryover. If you are granted a conditional approval, we are going to follow back up and either reject your plan, maybe ask for additional information. It's conditionally approved, but we might want more detail. 

And so we will reach out and have you fill out additional information. Provide additional information. You will still be prescribed technical assistance, and you'll be given a certain time to turn this around and resubmit until we can review and approve it. And then, if it's denied, it means the plan just did not meet the criteria. And so therefore, you will have to go back as the consortium, revise, resubmit, and our teams will review in order to determine if we can grant you conditional approval or approval. 

The one question that we are going to be working with our TAP is we're going to be assessing whether we're going to include an additional question, because we've already had consortia that have been flagged two years in a row, There might be a third year in a row. And so we really want this to be very intentional, and we are considering adding one additional question that would be targeted to those. Is this your first or second year? 

If you have never been flagged, you're good to go. Continue to fill out the questions. If you have been flagged in the past, we may be asking for additional information so that you provide additional justification as to why there continues to be this excess carryover, despite the written expenditure plan and action items and action areas that have been outlined in prior plans. Somebody was going to say something, Holly or Mandilee. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Oh, it was Mandilee. Sorry. I was just going to add that in those instances, if they are deemed, that written expenditure plan is deemed either not approved or conditionally approved, that is when you're assigned TAP. Connects with you, works with you, shares the feedback from CAEP leadership to help get you to that approved status. 

I was just wanted to elevate that. It's not like you get this status, and you're left out there all alone until your written expenditure plan is approved. Your TAP is there to help ensure that it is approved as quickly as possible to get things moving forward. 

MAYRA DIAZ: Thank you, Mandilee. Next slide, please. I think I'm almost done. Mandilee, did you want to ask this TA question that has emerged in the past? 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Sure. So we have a couple-- so this is a question that has come up, and it is elevated here, and it is also in the slide deck that Holly has shared. So one of the questions is, does my written expenditure plan need to have local board approval? And the answer is it depends. If your member's budget and work plan align with your proposed consortium-level corrective action plan and timeline to reduce the excessive carryover, then there would be no need to obtain that additional local board approval. 

But you have to check your bylaws, and this may vary by consortium. And I think Mayra has stated this over and over. It is really up to the local control. If your written expenditure plan deviates from either your three-year plan, your annual plan, or if it deviates from what you've already agreed to, then you would have to likely bring this back if that is what is written in your bylaws. 

So I also want to just highlight, and I know that Mayra stated it. But your carryover compliance, it is embedded in all of these strategic plans. And in that question for your CPAD, it specifically states, how do you as a consortium handle this excessive carryover at a member level? And then what are you going to do? And then it really starts to create that foundation and hopefully, provides that opportunity to have conversation in your consortium and start to strategize the best way to serve your community. Again, ensuring that the money is spent real time with the community and the learners that are in those classrooms or receiving services. 

The certification of the plan. So these are some additional questions that have come up. Do all my members have to approve the written expenditure plan? Yes. Everyone does have to go in. It is an action item in NOVA. If I can't make that November 15 deadline, can I ask for an extension? Yes. But if you can make it, that is ideal, especially since November 15 does fall on a weekend, so it's really not going to be required until that following Monday. 

But if you do require an extension, just reach out to your TAPs, and we'll be sure to communicate that to CAEP leadership. Just so you know right now, if you're asking for an extension, our first question will be, and when will it be completed by? So just have that on the ready as well. The other question is-- oh, yeah. 

MAYRA DIAZ: Sorry, I just wanted to chime in on this one on the extension. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Yes. 

MAYRA DIAZ: So this is a very tight turnaround timeline that we have. So kudos to you all that are here to learn about this today. Not so kudos if you get flagged and you have to complete written expenditure plan. But you know in advance what this is going to look like and can be prepared from day one, because you will have 45 days to prepare the written expenditure plan and get that submitted. 

In the past, we have allowed for an extension because in the prior slide, Mandilee noted that typically the rationale for that is some consortia do have to bring this written expenditure plan to their board, and so they're trying to fit that window. And so we've been flexible. However, we will only allow no more than additional 30 days, and so that would be 45 days plus the 30 day, which would bring it up to December 15. 

And the reason for that is because we are in such a crunch window for our teams to review, starting-- we wait for all of the plans to be submitted. So if there are some extensions, that means as of December 16, our teams will meet, and we generally have until over the holiday over the winter break. For those of us that don't take that time, we're entering that winter break December 16 through January 15. 

Our teams at the CAEP office, Chancellor's Office, California Department of Education, and our TAPs are reviewing these written expenditure plans, convening to make decisions on the approval statuses so that in early January, we can provide proper notice because folks will want to know, consortia will want to know, is this approved? 

And we've had some submit them as of November 15 and some up until December 15. All of those are reviewed, assessed. A decision is provided around the first two or three weeks of January so that we can meet that timeline, provide a decision. And then TAPs are also beginning to provide-- or within that window, they're providing prescribed technical assistance. So just wanted to flag that as we proceed with this proposed extension. Go for it, Mandilee. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Well, and you kind of answered the next one, which is, who really does review my plan? And I did state this earlier, your CAEP office reviews the plan. Is CDE. It's the Chancellor's Office. The TAPs also review, but it is the CDE and the Chancellor's Office who will approve, not approve, or conditionally approve. And from those notes that are taken, we will communicate that as a TAP if you are assigned that technical assistance to ensure that, again, we bring you back into compliance with carryover. 

And this is just essentially stating that technical assistance and those resources are provided. And I wonder, because we only have a few more minutes left, do you think now-- if there are any questions regarding this, I wonder if you have anyone. If anyone in the room has questions, you can pop those into the chat. And Lisa, if you want to maybe review. 

LISA MEDNICK TAKAMI: Sure. So I'll just make a couple of comments to compliment what Mayra and Mandilee have already shared this morning. So having read-- and I see we have a question. Having read the review of the plans twice, if your consortium is one that will need to submit a written expenditure plan, please answer those questions specifically. 

Mayra indicated there may be an additional question. What we find with the plans that are not approved or approved conditionally is something like, for example, we had a plan where they were-- the plan envisioned a large capital project that they would be using all of the carryover funds, but would also require grant funds which were not yet in place. If that's the case, then you would want to indicate, what are the grants? What is the amount of money? What is the expected award notification? That gives the CDE and Chancellor's Office much more reassurance that you're on the right track. 

And that's just one of many examples. But try to be as specific as you can in the approach or approaches that your consortia plans to take in spending down. Here we have some resources-- AB 1491 guidance, the timeline, updated program guidance with an FAQ, a webinar chat Q&A from way back when in 2023, and you've got a QR code for CAEP. Next slide, please. 

This is the request support from CAEP TAP. This appears on the CalAdult website. CAEP TAP at NOCE uses a slightly different email address. Raymundo, if you could put that into the chat, I would appreciate that. But as was said, at the top of the hour, we work as an integrated CAEP TAP. Please do feel free to contact us in any particular way, because often what will happen is requests will come in. We will hear from SCOE. We think this is more in your wheelhouse or vice versa. We will get a request, and we feel that it's more in SCOE's wheelhouse, and we are back and forth very regularly. 

What I encourage you to do is to heed Marya's advice to get your financial reporting and your Q4 in on time, because that data does hit September 30, and we find out from the Chancellor's Office very quickly, which consortia have been flagged. It has been encouraging, as Mayra has indicated, that we have seen a steady decrease in the number of consortia over the last two years that even need to do the written expenditure plan, and that's great news. Next slide, please. We would like to thank you. And I did see that there was a question. I'm not sure whether that colleague is still with us, but this is the time to come off of mute and pose any questions. 

SHANNON: I just wanted to confirm. We were one of those repeat offenders of carryover. However, this year we are not. Woohoo! So I just wanted to confirm that, when you get back into compliance and let's say that this coming year, we accidentally get back into noncompliance, does that just starts over your-- that would be year one for consecutive years? 

LISA MEDNICK TAKAMI: I mean, kudos to Adult Education Pathways for coming out of that carryover compliance threshold that I'm sure required a lot of work on the part of your consortium. Yes, I would think that if you were to fall back into-- well, I'm going to let-- I'm going to defer to Mayra on that question. Mayra, what would be your response? 

MAYRA DIAZ: Thank you. You're on the right track, and I agree. Kudos, Shannon, for Adult Education Pathways. I know there's a lot of work behind trying to reduce that carryover. I do know, as we noted earlier, that the consortia-level carryover is assessed annually. So you can get in. You can get out. You can get in. You can get out. It's the member-level carryover that is tracking that on a two-year consecutive, and that's where you'll see year one, year two. 

But on the consortia level, it's assessed annually. And so you're either flagged if you do have carryover. If you get out of it, you're good. If you get flagged the next year, you just get flagged again, and you complete the written expenditure plan. 

LISA MEDNICK TAKAMI: Thank you, Mayra. 

MAYRA DIAZ: Thank you. I know Mandilee and Holly maybe wanted to make some notes about-- oh, there's some additional questions about the expenditure processes. 

LISA MEDNICK TAKAMI: Steven, why don't you go ahead and ask your question, and then we'll hand it back to Mandilee and Holly. 

STEVEN CASPERITE: So I was just writing, but I thought it'd be easier just to speak it. So the SJC consortium, which was flagged this year, the first time ever, we were over by 8%. We had already come together, put together a plan, written the plan, and submitted it into NOVA. So we have to break that plan all down and put it into the boxes or will you guys just take the plan we've already submitted, look at it, and give us approval, or tell us no, you need to do da, da, da, da? 

MANDILEE GONZALES: When you say you've submitted a plan-- I just want clarity-- did you enter something into your queue, into your quarterly reports as far as how you're going to bring it down, or was it added into supporting? 

STEVEN CASPERITE: So NOVA, once we got flagged, it stated we needed a written expenditure plan. Of course, you can actually go in and upload a written expenditure plan-- 

[INTERPOSING VOICES] 

STEVEN CASPERITE: --documentation. So we went ahead and submitted it in that space, and that's as far as we could go. And now it says, awaiting submittal. We've already submitted the plan. And so we're just trying to discern, are we going to have to just break that plan down and submit it into all the boxes that you've shown us, or written and just go, OK, there's their plan. 

[INTERPOSING VOICES] 

MAYRA DIAZ: Way to go. Way to go, Steven. 

STEVEN CASPERITE: We like to get on things. 

[LAUGHS] 

MAYRA DIAZ: I'll say, way to go and being super proactive. So what's going to happen is this is actually a really good reminder that, if you complete and certify your Q4, you don't have to wait for that September 30 snapshot. The snapshot will capture carryover. However, the written expenditure plan trigger will populate the moment that you certify the Q4, which is this example with Sierra Joint Consortium, if you guys can see my screen. So this is what is going to populate, and so this is what Steve is talking about. 

Steve, the reason why you are unable to view the plan that we shared is because we are finalizing the survey. We will publish this a few days as we get close to this September 30 snapshot. Once we publish this, you will be able to go back in, and you will see all of the questions in here. And this is where-- if you've already completed it, you will still because it won't clear up the requirement. As you as you see, it says, awaiting member representative approval. 

Once we publish the survey on the back end, you will see the eight set of questions that we have. You will enter and submit, copy and paste your responses. Once you have addressed them all, you will submit. And this is where all of the members will be required to approve. Once all the members approve, the state office will receive that notification that you've completed that requirement. You do have the ability to upload any additional supporting documentation. 

In some cases, I've seen some consortia, when they submit the written expenditure plans, I've seen them submit some other expenditure reports or a spreadsheet with, here's how we're planning to spend this down. That is excellent because you are being really intentional with the approaches that are going to be taking, and that really helps make the case with the intentionality being taken. Also, the TAPs will use this functionality to upload any documentation materials as they're providing technical assistance. 

So thank you for elevating that example, Steven. And just as a note, we will publish this in the coming days right before the September 30, and you will be able to see the full survey questions. Just copy and paste your responses, making sure you've clearly addressed all of them. Hit submit. And then all of your members-- you will want to make sure you coordinate with your members so they each approve. 

And then once we see all of the member approvals, it will come to the fund project monitor. And so the Chancellor's Office will conduct. We will not approve this. This is a part that we said, we will not approve this until after the Chancellor's Office, the California Department of Education, and the CAEP TAPs have come together and have finalized their reviews and recommendations to approve the plan. And we are typically doing that process in the second, third week of January. 

STEVEN CASPERITE: So basically, the questions that I responded to were the questions that you showed on that slide. So basically, I'll just break this document down, just basically. And then I'll send the whole document too as a whole so you guys can see both of them. Pretty straightforward reason why there was carryover this year. Really, it was CDE overpaid one of our members, which then threw us all into a carryover abysmal for regional funding, which was a wonderful thing. But when you don't get it until January and then you've already allocated funds-- so anyways, that will be a part of the written plan, so-- 

MAYRA DIAZ: Awesome. Thank you. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: So I know we got started a little late, and we're staying over a little bit of time, but this really was intended to also address any questions for the fields around carryover compliance, really underscoring the importance of that Q4, and ensuring that you have clean numbers, accurate numbers. A reminder, once your quarter four is certified, there is no going back. Any cleanup will have to happen in years to move forward. 

So if there are any questions, I'm happy to stay on. I have some time before I do have to jump off, but I'm happy to address any questions. We had hoped to maybe pop into NOVA. I don't think we're going to have that time, but we can still do a demo if there are people who want to stay on. I'm going to address any questions regarding NOVA. I'm going to give it that 7 seconds. [LAUGHS] 

I'm not seeing anyone come off of mute. I'm not seeing anyone come off of camera. We've dropped in some links into the chat, which are some upcoming events as well as some contact information. We are here to support you however that looks. Reach out to your TAPs, and then we can always set up a one on one, or we can even point you to other resources. I think Holly has already shared the PowerPoint, and I'll pass it off to Holly to finish closing us out. 

HOLLY CLARK: Well, I was just going to ask, do we want to give an opportunity for them to give a thumbs up if they want to see a quick demo in NOVA of the carryover section? So for those that are still online, if you would like to see a quick NOVA demo of that carryover section, give a thumbs up. We'd be happy to just give a five-minute run through for you if you would like to see that. So if you do, let's see a thumbs up in your reactions. Otherwise, we will move to close out because we do know you have competing priorities. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: I gave it a seven-second pause, but I'm not seeing any thumbs up. Oh, we have Dina. So let's just-- and for those that do want to leave, you are welcome to leave. We have put the evaluation in the chat. If you can just give us your feedback, we would appreciate that. For those that would like to stay on, you're welcome to stay on. And Mayra and Lisa, we do know-- if you guys have conflicting meetings, we do appreciate you presenting with us. 

I will go ahead and share screen, and let me get my NOVA screen up. I have this sandbox. So we're going to go into a safe environment so that we don't mess with anyone's NOVA. That is our number one priority, is not to mess with anyone's live NOVA. And this is important to know that in the sandbox, all of this data is back to September 1. So this is old data. It's not accurate for what you're seeing. 

Mayra mentioned the ribbon. So the ribbon at the top that you're seeing, I will try to highlight it for you. It's up here at the very top of your fiscal reporting. And this is what it's showing for the consortium as a whole. It's capturing it only for-- this is Q4 that we're in right now. Well, right now, I'm on Q3, but I will click to Q4 of '25-'26. This is showing your total expenditures for '25-'26, Total allocation for '25-'26, and the total carryover for '25-'26. This is not taking into account anything other than '25-'26. 

So for '25-'26 consortium number 15 had a total carryover of 27.18% This is not accurate, again, because their members had not completed their submitting of Q4. As you can see, the community college district had 204,000 in Q4. And if I click on Q3, they also had 204,000. They had not submitted their Q4 on September 1. So they likely may not be in carryover compliance. 

The section down below is the member carryover compliance status section, and this tells them where they are. This tells them their allocation for '25-'26 and their expenses. And this section right here, we get a lot of questions about these amounts right here. And why their expenses? Why their expenditures here are only 324 when just above that, their total expenditures are 441? 

And the difference is, if you add 324,602 plus the amount they brought with them from '25-'26 as a carryover of 116, if you add that 324,602 plus the 116,730, it will equal 441,332. That is what they spent total for expenditures. However, they had to spend all of their carryover from the prior year before they started plugging away at their current allocation. So they only spent of their current allocation, 324. That's what left them with their carryover of 41%. 

It also shows, as Mayra mentioned, their carryover threshold that they set and their CFAD. That is shown here in carryover compliance status section. So it will show you right here what their consortium set for their threshold. And it'll tell them right here in this yellow box the member carryover exceeds the consortium-determined excessive carryover for at least two consecutive fiscal years, and that their allocation is at risk of being reduced by no more than the excessive carryover amount. So they had excessive carryover of 41.65. Their threshold is 40%, so they could swipe 1.65% based on the Ed Code that is here. 

Now, their corrective action plan. Mayra also mentioned this. They will have to submit it. And when I scrolled, I saw one member had not submitted it. And it'll be red, and they will have to submit it. If I could find where it was. Oh, if I went to Q4. I'm sorry. 

If I went to Q4, one of their members right here. It'll be read, and they won't be able to move forward until the corrective action plan says, it's required. And they will have to submit their corrective action plan, and that is a member-level requirement that they will have to. Additional comments are optional, but corrective action plan is required. So that is the snippet. 

Now, also, you will notice, if I scroll down to Inglewood or scroll back up to Inglewood, for the Fiscal Management Guide, it says that no negative amounts are allowed to be submitted in your fiscal report. So these negative amounts and object codes 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 should not be there. If you see this, you want to do a budget revision prior to submitting to move money from probably here. It's up to the member. But if it were me, I would move money out of my 5,000, and I would move enough to deposit money into my 4,000, 3000, 2,000 to clear those negatives and leave them with a zero balance and just get rid of these exclamation marks. 

These three exclamation marks that are in these three categories here could be cleared. This one, you will never clear down here. That's just meant to be a heads-up that says, hey, this amount is carryover you're going to start next year with. It's just an alert and a notice to you that you're going to start next year with carryover. But the three negatives up here in your object codes should not be there, and you should never submit your fiscal report with them. That is per page 37 of the Fiscal Management Guide. So do we have any questions? 

HOLLY CLARK: Mandilee, you're on mute? 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Yep. So I wonder, because I had to step away for a quick second, did you also talk about when you open up the budget and work plan, when you move funding from the object codes that your consortium lead should be notified? 

HOLLY CLARK: Now, I'm on mute. I did not. But when you do a budget revision, you need to let your consortium lead know they will decertify your budget work plan and open it up for you. You can unsubmit, move the funds. You will then resubmit, and your consortium lead will then recertify your budget work plan. And it is important to follow those steps. The consortium lead does need to be involved in that process. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Thank you. All right. Oh, wonderful. 

HOLLY CLARK: Yes. So that is the overview. And again, we are always here to help. So if you need a one-on-one tutorial, if you want to set up a training for you and your fiscal staff or for you and another member representative or you and your consortium, we are happy to oblige. We can always set that up for you. 

So please feel free to reach out to TAP via our website through Submit Request Support or just by emailing us, and we will always do what we can to assist you. And Mandilee just dropped how to get a hold of us here at CAEP TAP at SCOE and also CAEP TAP at NOCE in the chat. That is all we have. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: All right. We're going to go ahead and close on out. Thanks, everyone. Have a great day. 

HOLLY CLARK: All right. Bye-bye. 

MANDILEE GONZALES: Bye.