Business Services

  • 2019-20 Second Interim Budget Review

    We are in the process of reviewing Second Interim reports. We expect to have draft letters to superintendents and district business officials on April 13, 2020. As always, we appreciate your review and quick turnaround

     

     

    2019-20 Second Period (P2) Attendance Reporting

    To prevent the loss of attendance-based funding related to school closures due to coronavirus (COVID-19), the legislation has approved emergency legislation (AB117) to provide a shift in the attendance reporting period. For the 2019-20 year only, the average daily attendance (ADA) used for both the second period and the annual period apportionment includes all full school months from July 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020 for all local educational agencies.

     

    This shift in the attendance reporting period effectively mitigates the loss of attendance due to COVID-19. Programs where attendance is calculated using a fixed divisor are permitted to reduce their divisor for COVID-19 closure days provided the Local Education Agency (LEA) submits a supplemental certification form to CDE.

     

    To address the loss of instructional days and minutes associated with school closures due to COVID-19, the legislation provides that, in place of the J-13A waiver request process, each LEA will receive full funding if the District certifies the school closures were due to COVID-19. The California Department of Education is developing a certification form that we will forward as soon as it is available.  See attached Business Bulletin for details (link Bulletin 20-23).

     

    CDE is maintaining a frequently asked questions page for COVID-19 attendance related issues at the following link:  https://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/pa/covidfaqs.asp

     

    COVID-19 Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Reimbursements Due by April 8, 2020

    Any organization that has provided, may provide, or is providing extraordinary emergency protective measures as a result of the federally declared emergency, FEMA-3428-EM-CA California COVID-19, may be eligible for federal reimbursement. Please see the attached Eligibility and Application Fact Sheets and Quick Reference Guides for more information. 

     

    Any organization that has incurred expenses responding to the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) is encouraged to submit a Request for Public Assistance (RPA) via the attached form (FEMA FF 009-0-49) or Grants Portal located at https://grantee.fema.gov/ to apply for reimbursement from the federal Public Assistance (PA)Program.

     

    If your district has a Grants Portal (GP) Account, attached are instructions on how to Submit a Request for Public Assistance (RPA) and forms that need to be submitted to California Office of Emergency Services (OES).

     

    If your district does not currently have a Grants Portal Account,  see attached instructions on how to Submit a Request for Public Assistance (RPA).  The Cal OES 89 and Cal OES 130SA forms will also need to be submitted to Cal Office of Emergency Services (OES).

     

    RPA’s must be submitted no later than close of business Wednesday, April 8, 2020.

    All California Counties are included in the FEMA-3428-EM-CA declaration.

     

    District Business Services Operational Changes due to COVID-19

    After consultation with all District business officials, the County Office is mailing payroll warrants and direct deposit notices directly to employees for most districts in the county for the duration of the emergency closures. Most districts have elected to continue collecting vendor warrants by using our ‘drive-thru’ pick-up process. We have transitioned to electronic signatures for transactions and operations are proceeding fairly smoothly.

     

    In response to tightening restrictions, we reduced the number of business office personnel working on-site to solely those staff needed to process warrants and mail. Office hours for business office personnel were further limited beginning March 24, 2020 to those days we print or mail warrants. The Warrant Pick up schedule shows office days and hours staff are available for the drive-thru pick up process effective March 24, 2020. Changes in the schedule are communicated to all affected staff in the County. 

     

    Food Service Request to Waive Requirements Due to School Closures

    On March 7, 2020, the California Department of Education (CDE) Nutrition Services Division (NSD) received approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow program operators, in good standing, to serve meals through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and Seamless Summer Option (SSO) during unanticipated school closures as a result of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The waiver allows meals to be served at school and non-school sites, and in a noncongregate setting.

     

    This waiver is effective immediately (and is valid until June 30, 2020) and enables approved sponsors to allow meals to be taken away from the site and consumed elsewhere, thereby allowing for social distancing.

     

    To use this waiver the following information must be submitted to the California Department of Education (CDE). Waiver requests must address the specifics of how the program operator will operate the SFSP or SSO during an unanticipated school closure due to COVID-19, and must include the following:

    • Name of school(s) covered by waiver request
    • At what point following school dismissal the meal service would start
    • What meal distribution method(s) the institution will use and how the waiver will target the children in the dismissed schools
    • How the meal distribution will target low-income children, if the school does not have 50 percent or more free and reduced-price children enrolled
    • Methods for communicating with families
    • How the program operator will ensure proper operation of the program including meal content, meal counts, food safety, and oversight.

     

     Additional information can be found on https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/nu/waivereqschoolclosures.asp

     

    Please also see the latest COVID-19 Pick Upwaiver allowing parents to pick up food without children being present. 

     

     

    Coronavirus Emergency Fiscal Impacts

    We have prepared the attached document regarding the fiscal impacts of the coronavirus emergency. The document lists revenue sources specific to the coronavirus emergency, identifies possible expenditures that may be reimbursable, discusses important aspects pertaining to tracking/documenting costs and concludes with a chart identifying which funding sources may be appropriate for which types of costs.

     

     

    Property Tax Forum | April 17, 2020 | 10:00  a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ~ Update

    Given the Governor's Executive Order regarding COVD-19  to "Shelter in Place", the 6th Annual Property Tax Forum on April 17, 2020 may move to a virtual meeting.  Please contact Deanne Waltz at dwaltz@marinschools.org  or 415.499.5805 if you and/or your District's trustee(s)are interested in attending.  Should the meeting move to a virtual platform, we will contact you via email. Click on this link for more information.

     

     

    Parcel Tax Administration Training | May 27, 2020 | 9:00  a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

    The annual parcel tax administration training for district staff will be provided by the County of Marin on May 27, 2020 .  This information will be circulated to the District Business Officials.