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. (a) The Superintendent shall review and consider studies,
reports, evaluations, or audits of the county office of education
that contain evidence that the county office of education is
demonstrating fiscal distress according to the standards and criteria
developed pursuant to Section 33127, or that contain a finding by an
external reviewer that more than 3 of the 15 most common predictors
of school agencies needing intervention, as determined by the County
Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, are present. If
those findings are made, the Superintendent shall investigate the
financial condition of the county office of education and determine
if the county office of education may be unable to meet its financial
obligations for the current or two subsequent fiscal years, or
should receive a qualified or negative interim financial
certification pursuant to Section 1240.
(b) If at any time during the fiscal year the Superintendent
determines that the county office of education may be unable to meet
its financial obligations for the current or two subsequent fiscal
years, or if the county office has a qualified certification pursuant
to Section 1240, he or she shall notify the county board of
education and the county superintendent in writing of that
determination and the basis for the determination. The notification
shall include the assumptions used in making the determination and
shall be available to the public. The Superintendent shall do the
following, as necessary, to ensure that the county office meets its
financial obligations:
(1) Assign a fiscal expert, paid for by the Superintendent, to
advise the county office on its financial problems.
(2) Conduct a study of the financial and budgetary conditions of
the county office. If, in the course of this review, the
Superintendent determines that his or her office requires analytical
assistance or expertise that is not available through the county
office, he or she may employ, at county office expense, on a
short-term basis, staff, including certified public accountants, to
provide the assistance and expertise.
(3) Direct the county office to submit a financial projection of
all fund and cash balances of the county office as of June 30 of the
current year and subsequent fiscal years as he or she requires.
(4) Require the county office to encumber all contracts and other
obligations, to prepare appropriate cashflow analyses and monthly or
quarterly budget revisions, and to appropriately record all
receivables and payables.
(5) Direct the county office to submit a proposal for addressing
the fiscal conditions that resulted in the determination that the
county office may not be able to meet its financial obligations.
(6) Withhold compensation of the county board of education and the
county superintendent for failure to provide requested financial
information.
(c) If, after taking the actions identified in subdivision (a),
the Superintendent determines that a county office will be unable to
meet its financial obligations for the current or subsequent fiscal
year, he or she shall notify the county board of education and the
county superintendent in writing of that determination and the basis
for that determination. The notification shall include the
assumptions used in making the determination and shall be available
to the public.
(d) If the Superintendent of Public Instruction makes that
determination, or if the county office has a negative certification
pursuant to Section 1240, the Superintendent, shall, as necessary to
enable the county office to meet its financial obligations, do one or
more of the following:
(1) Develop and impose, in consultation with the county board of
education and the county superintendent, a budget that will enable
the county to meet its financial obligations.
(2) Stay or rescind an action that is determined to be
inconsistent with the ability of the county office to meet its
obligations for the current or subsequent fiscal year and may, as
necessary, appoint a fiscal adviser to perform some or all of the
duties prescribed by this paragraph on his or her behalf. This
includes actions up to the point that the subsequent year's budget is
approved by the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall inform the
county board of education in writing of his or her justification for
an exercise of authority under this paragraph.
(3) Assist in developing, in consultation with the county board of
education and the county superintendent, a financial plan that will
enable the county office to meet its future obligations.
(4) Assist in developing, in consultation with the county board of
education and the county superintendent, a budget for the subsequent
fiscal year. If necessary, the Superintendent shall continue to work
with the county board of education and the county superintendent
until the budget for the subsequent year is adopted.
(e) Actions taken by the Superintendent pursuant to paragraph (1)
or (2) of subdivision (d) shall be accompanied by a notification that
includes the actions to be taken, the reasons for the actions, and
the assumptions used to support the necessity for those actions. That
notification shall be available to the public.
(f) This section does not authorize the Superintendent to abrogate
a provision of a collective bargaining agreement that was entered
into by a county office prior to the date upon which the
Superintendent assumed authority pursuant to subdivision (d).
(g) The county office shall pay reasonable fees charged by the
Superintendent for administrative expenses incurred pursuant to
subdivision (d) or costs associated with improving the office's
financial management practices.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a county treasurer
shall not honor a warrant when the Superintendent, as appropriate,
has disapproved that warrant, or has disapproved the order on county
office funds for which a warrant was prepared.
(i) For all purposes of errors and liability insurance policies, a
fiscal expert appointed pursuant to this section shall be deemed to
be an employee of the county office of education. The Superintendent
may require that the fiscal adviser be placed on the county office of
education payroll for the purposes of remuneration, benefits, and
payroll deductions.
(j) If staff persons are hired pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (b), the Superintendent may certify to the Controller an
amount to be transferred to the State Department of Education, from
the funds that otherwise would be apportioned to the county office of
education pursuant to Section 2558, for the purpose of paying all
costs incurred by that staff in performing their respective services.
The Controller, upon receipt of that certification, shall transfer
that amount.
(k) To facilitate the appointment of a county office fiscal
officer and the employment of additional staff pursuant to paragraphs
(1) and (2), respectively, of subdivision (b), for the purposes of
those paragraphs, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is exempt
from the requirements of Article 6 (commencing with Section 999) of
Chapter 6 of Division 4 of the Military and Veterans Code and Part 2
(commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract
Code.