Q&A - Consortia Allocations (Administrators) - California Adult Education Program

Administrators

Leadership isn’t about a title. It’s about impact, influence and inspiration.

–Susan Lytle Gilmore, Ph.D., Director of Adult Education, Sacramento City Unified School District

AEP Questions and Answers

This is a collection of questions that are most frequently asked of the AEP Office. They are organized by topic area and will be updated as needed.

Consortia Allocations

Consortia Allocations (6)

Q1 It looks like we will have remaining funds in our consortium office budget. We would like to distribute these funds to members as special project funding. We do not want to give the funding on a regular basis since legislation states "no member shall receive less than the prior year". Our fiscal manager said that we can provide the special funding via a separate MOU and can be reported under our 5000's as a contract. Is this the best way to handle this? If we do this MOU process, how will the enrollment be captured? There is currently no mechanism for attendance reporting for our office because we don't serve students directly.

These funds would need to be given via an allocation amendment, thus making it a one-time transfer of funds. The member agency receiving the monies and providing the instruction would reports hours of instruction, etc. in TE and on their program area report. Your agency would not report anything since you no longer have the money for the year, and you do not offer instruction.

Q2 A new member was added this fiscal year to our consortium as a non-funded member. Some things have changed a bit and we would like to give them a small and ongoing allocation starting in FY 22/23. We wanted to give them money out of our 21/22 budget. Since they are not listed in the allocation amendment section, how would that work?

You are unable to give the new member money until July 1st, when the CFAD marking them as funded goes into effect. Once they are funded (July 1), you can do an allocation amendment to give them a one-time additional pot of funds. You can give it from the oldest pot available, which may be the 21/22 funds (if you've spent all your 20/21 funds).

Q3 It looks like we will have some funds from our office budget that could go to members as one-time extra money. What are the steps to take to make that happen?

You would do an allocation amendment to give the member extra money. An allocation amendment is a one time move of funds. The funds would be automatically added to their Budget but you will need to un-certify for them so they can go in and assign the extra money to object codes. They then submit and you re-certify.

Q4 This request is for fiscal information that will help our Fiscal Services department confirm our 20/21 carryforward balance and 21/22 CAEP budget. I'm seeking (1) apportionment schedules from FY16 through FY21 and Consortium/Member Agency allocations for the same fiscal years (FY16 through FY21).

You will be able to find the consortium allocation on the website at
https://caladulted.org/Administrators/14 (HOME > ADMINISTRATORS >FUNDING >ANNUAL >CAEP ALLOCATION) The breakdown for each member is not determined by the state. Please review NOVA, specifically the CFAD, to see the member allocation per year. It is important to look at the Allocation Amendments for each year; any moving of money after the CFAD was certified will be recorded there. If you scroll to the Allocation section in NOVA and click on view Amendment History, there will be a list of all amendments and that will show your true and final allocation for the year. Please note that multiple amendments can be done within a year so look for the last updated amendment.

Q5 Will you give us a tool or recommendation for what allocation methodology we should use?

You can prorate your allocation by enrollment percentages or any other methodology recommended by your accounting/business office.

Q6 I’m an adult school educator and wanted to know if individual agencies could decide whether or not to pass down the cola increase to employees salaries. Our consortium did receive the cola; however we as teachers did not receive any raise.

The COLA is divided across all consortia members based on the state-identified funding formula. Employee salaries and benefits are negotiated items determined by each district, county office, or Joint Powers Authority (JPA). Individual member agencies cannot decide to pass down the cola increase to employees' salaries. The agencies must use the district’s process to negotiate and approve salary increases.