Report 2019-101 Recommendation 9 Responses

Report 2019-101: K-12 Local Control Funding: The State's Approach Has Not Ensured That Significant Funding Is Benefiting Students as Intended to Close Achievement Gaps (Release Date: November 2019)

Recommendation #9 To: Education, State Board of

To ensure that districts and other local educational agencies produce clear and effective LCAPs and to reduce the likelihood of stakeholder complaints, by April 2020 the State Board should revise the instructions for the LCAP template to instruct districts to ensure that their LCAPs are sufficiently clear and effective, including but not necessarily limited to ensuring that they articulate a logical connection between their needs and goals, that districts provide sufficiently detailed descriptions of services with the LCAP's Analysis subsection, and that LCAPs are written in a manner that is easily understandable.

60-Day Agency Response

Consistent with the October 17, 2019 response letter, the Board's January 2020 meeting agenda included an item recommending that the Board adopt a revised template with instructions that address this issue. Additionally, in order to strengthen the logical connection between goals, actions, and metrics included in LCAPs, the template includes a field in which LEAs must explain why each goal was developed and how the actions and metrics under each goal are related to achieving the goal. The SBE adopted the revised template on January 8, 2020.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Fully Implemented

Our review of the revised LCAP template and instructions approved by the board found that they emphasize that districts should ensure their LCAPs include a logical connection between needs and goals, provide sufficiently detailed descriptions of services, and are written in language that is meaningful and accessible to stakeholders and the public.

All Recommendations in 2019-101

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.