Article 3. Financial Reports And Certifications of California Education Code >> Division 3. >> Title 2. >> Part 24. >> Chapter 6. >> Article 3.

The superintendent of each school district shall, in addition to any other powers and duties granted to or imposed upon him or her, submit two reports to the governing board of the district during each fiscal year. The first report shall cover the financial and budgetary status of the district for the period ending October 31. The second report shall cover the period ending January 31. Both reports shall be approved by the district governing board no later than 45 days after the close of the period being reported. All reports required by this subdivision shall be in a format or on forms prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and shall be based on standards and criteria for fiscal stability adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to Section 33127. The reports, and supporting data, shall be maintained and made available by the school district for public review.

(a) (1) Pursuant to the reports required by Section 42130, the governing board of each school district shall certify, in writing, within 45 days after the close of the period being reported, whether the school district is able to meet its financial obligations for the remainder of the fiscal year and, based on current forecasts, for the subsequent fiscal year. These certifications shall be based upon the governing board of the school district's assessment, on the basis of standards and criteria for fiscal stability adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 33127, of the school district budget, as revised to reflect current information regarding the adopted State Budget, school district property tax revenues pursuant to Sections 95 to 100, inclusive, of the Revenue and Taxation Code, and ending balances for the preceding fiscal year as reported pursuant to Section 42100. The certifications shall be classified as positive, qualified, or negative, as prescribed by the Superintendent for purposes of determining subsequent actions by the Superintendent, the Controller, or the county superintendent of schools, pursuant to subdivisions (b) and (c). These certifications shall be based upon the financial and budgetary reports required by Section 42130 but may include additional financial information known by the governing board of the school district to exist at the time of each certification. For purposes of this subdivision, a negative certification shall be assigned to any school district that, based upon current projections, will be unable to meet its financial obligations for the remainder of the fiscal year or the subsequent fiscal year. A qualified certification shall be assigned to any school district that, based upon current projections, may not meet its financial obligations for the current fiscal year or two subsequent fiscal years. A positive certification shall be assigned to any school district that, based upon current projections, will meet its financial obligations for the current fiscal year and subsequent two fiscal years.
  (2) (A) A copy of each certification and a copy of the report submitted to the governing board of the school district pursuant to Section 42130 shall be filed with the county superintendent of schools. If a county office of education receives a positive certification when it determines a negative or qualified certification should have been filed, or receives a qualified certification when it determines a negative certification should have been filed, the county superintendent of schools shall change the certification to negative or qualified, as appropriate, and, no later than 75 days after the close of the period being reported, shall provide notice of that action to the governing board of the school district and to the Superintendent. No later than five days after a school district receives notice from the county superintendent of schools of a change in the school district's certification to negative or qualified, the governing board of the school district may submit an appeal to the Superintendent regarding the validity of that change, in accordance with the criteria applied to those designations pursuant to this subdivision. No later than 10 days after receiving that appeal, the Superintendent shall determine the certification to be assigned to the school district and shall notify the governing board of the school district and the county superintendent of schools of that determination.
  (B) Copies of any certification in which the governing board of the school district is unable to certify unqualifiedly that these financial obligations will be met and a copy of the report submitted to the governing board of the school district pursuant to Section 42130 shall be sent by the county office of education to the Controller and the Superintendent at the time of the certification, together with a completed transmittal form provided by the Superintendent. Within 75 days after the close of the reporting period on all school district certifications that are classified as qualified or negative pursuant to this section, the appropriate county superintendent of schools shall submit to the Superintendent and the Controller his or her comments on those certifications and report any action proposed or taken pursuant to subdivision (b).
  (3) All reports and certifications required under this subdivision shall be in a format or on forms prescribed by the Superintendent and shall be based on standards and criteria for fiscal stability adopted by the state board pursuant to Section 33127.
  (4) This subdivision does not preclude the submission of additional budgetary or financial reports by the county superintendent of schools to the governing board of the school district, or to the Superintendent.
  (b) As to any school district having a negative or qualified certification, the county superintendent of schools shall exercise his or her authority, as necessary, pursuant to Section 42127.6.
  (c) Within 75 days after the close of each reporting period, each county superintendent of schools shall report to the Controller and the Superintendent as to whether the governing board of each of the school districts under his or her jurisdiction has submitted the certification required by subdivision (a). That report shall account for all school districts under the jurisdiction of the county office of education and indicate the type of certification filed by each school district.
  (d) The Controller's office may conduct an audit or review of the fiscal condition of any school district having a negative or qualified certification.
  (e) The governing board of each school district filing a qualified or negative certification for the second report required under Section 42130, or classified as qualified or negative by the county superintendent of schools, shall provide to the county superintendent of schools, the Controller, and the Superintendent no later than June 1, financial statement projections of the school district's fund and cash balances through June 30 for the period ending April 30. The governing boards of all other school districts are encouraged to develop a similar financial statement for use in developing the beginning fund balances of the school district for the ensuing fiscal year.
  (f) Any school district for which the county board of education serves as the governing board of the school district is not subject to subdivisions (a) to (f), inclusive, but is governed instead by the interim report, monitoring, and review procedures set forth in subdivision (l) of Section 1240 and in Article 2 (commencing with Section 1620) of Chapter 5 of Part 2.

On or before September 15 of each year, the governing board of each school district shall adopt a resolution to identify, pursuant to Division 9 (commencing with Section 7900) of Title 1 of the Government Code, the estimated appropriations limit for the district for the current fiscal year and the actual appropriations limit for the district for the preceding fiscal year. That resolution shall be adopted at a regular or special meeting of the governing board. Notwithstanding Section 7910 of the Government Code, documentation used in the identification of the appropriations limits shall be made available to the public on the date of the meeting.

(a) A school district that has a qualified or negative certification in any fiscal year may not issue, in that fiscal year or in the next succeeding fiscal year, certificates of participation, tax anticipation notes, revenue bonds, or any other debt instruments that do not require the approval of the voters of the district, nor may the district cause an information report regarding the debt instrument to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 149 of Title 26 of the United States Code, unless the county superintendent of schools determines, pursuant to criteria established by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, that the district's repayment of that indebtedness is probable. A school district is deemed to have a qualified or negative certification for purposes of this subdivision if, pursuant to this article, it files that certification or the county superintendent of schools classifies the certification for that fiscal year to be qualified or negative.
  (b) A county office of education that has a qualified or negative certification in any fiscal year may not issue, in that fiscal year or in the next succeeding fiscal year, certificates of participation, tax anticipation notes, revenue bonds, or any other debt instruments not requiring the approval of the voters of the district, nor may the county office of education cause an information report regarding the debt instrument to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 149 of Title 26 of the United States Code, unless the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that the repayment of that indebtedness by the county office of education is probable. A county office of education is deemed to have a qualified or negative certification for purposes of this subdivision if, pursuant to this article, it files that certification or the Superintendent of Public Instruction classifies the certification for that fiscal year to be qualified or negative. For purposes of this subdivision, "county office of education" includes a school district that is governed by a county board of education.
  (c) No later than March 31, 1992, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall develop and adopt criteria and standards to govern the determination to be made under subdivisions (a) and (b).

Regardless of the certification of the budgetary status of a school district or county office of education under subdivision (l) of Section 1240 or Section 42131, the proceeds obtained by a school district from the sources listed in subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, shall not be used for general operating purposes of the school district.
  (a) The sale of a saleback or leaseback agreement, or interests in the agreement.
  (b) A debt instrument payable from payments under a saleback or leaseback agreement.
  (c) Certificates of participation.
  (d) Other debt instruments that meet both of the following criteria:
  (A) They are secured by real property.
  (B) They do not require the approval of the voters of the school district.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall publish annually a multiyear projection of the revenues that will be available to school districts and county offices of education from state and local sources, for use by school districts and county offices of education in determining the multiyear financial condition of those entities for the purposes of this article and Article 2. That projection shall be based on revenue forecasts issued by the Department of Finance, the Legislative Analyst, or the Commission on State Finance, shall be published in a form that may easily be used by school districts and county offices of education, and shall be made available to those entities.