PCSGP-13 RFA Training Webinar October 15, 2013
The following is a transcript of the Public Charter Schools Grant Program (PCSGP) Budget Technical Assistance (TA) Request for Applications (RFA) webinar focused on report training for sub-grantees.
Return to the Public Charter Schools Grant Program Request for Applications page.
The Public Charter School Grant Program, Request for Applications, Budget Technical Assistance Webinar, was presented on October 15, 2013 at the California Department of Education (CDE). The focus of the webinar was report training for sub-grantees. The speaker was Pete Callas, Fiscal Administrator of the Charter Schools Division at the CDE.
Transcript
Slide 1 and 2: Welcome
Welcome to the California Department of Education’s (CDE) presentation on the Public Charter Schools Grant Program (PCSGP) Budget Technical Assistance Webinar. This session will focus on Budget Reporting for fiscal year 2013–14. My name is Pete Callas, Fiscal Administrator of the Charter Schools Division at the CDE.
Slide 3: Purpose of the Webinar
The purpose of this Webinar is to provide guidance for charter school operators with an existing Public Charter Schools Grant in 2013–14. We will review the 2013–14 PCSGP Budget forms and the Quarterly Expenditure Reporting forms that you should have received in an email last week. PCSGP sub-grantee schools will use these documents to report their budget and expenditures for the 2013–14 fiscal year. These forms will take the place of the on-line Quarterly Benchmark Report (QBR) process that was utilized in previous budget years. During this webinar session, please type any questions you have into the Q&A panel. We will pause to answer questions periodically throughout the presentation.
Slide 4: Agenda
Today’s webinar agenda will cover a brief overview of federal guidance, PCSGP funding process, budget forms, Budget Review process, brief overview of allowable expenses, and PCSGP budget reporting.
Slide 5: What to have in front of you?
During this presentation, we will review the components of the PCSGP budget and reporting process for Implementation Years 1 and 2. We recommend that you have the Form 5 Budget Summary, Form 6 Budget Narrative and Form 8 Object of Expenditures Codes in front of you.
Slide 6: PCSGP Funding Process
This slide shows a flowchart of the budget review and funding process. Once a PCSGP sub-grantee submits their budget it is reviewed by CDE staff. During the Budget Review process the budget submitted is reviewed and approved. If additional information is needed or if unallowable expenditures are identified, then Budget Forms 5 and 6 will be returned to the sub-grantee for revisions. CDE staff will contact the charter school and follow up with an email describing the concerns identified. When CDE receives the budget revisions from the sub-grantee, the revised budget is reviewed again and if approved it will be placed in the sub-grantees PCSGP file. Once the budget is approved, it will be referenced each quarter during QER review by CDE staff to approve quarterly payments. The Payment Process takes approximately 8 to 10 weeks for the school to receive their payment. The Payment Process has multiple approval steps including 2 to 3 weeks to approve the drawdown of funds from the U.S. Department of Education, approximately 2 weeks for CDE staff to prepare and submit payment package to CDE accounting office and 3 to 4 weeks for the State Controller’s Office to process and send the payment to the sub-grantee.
Slide 7: Budget Review Summary Form
As discussed in the previous slide, the budget forms are reviewed by CDE staff to ensure expenditures align with the program description, for accuracy of calculations, sufficient descriptions of resources or activities, allowable expenditures, proper use of object codes, and reasonableness of expenditures. If CDE staff identify concerns on the budget forms, then a Budget Review Summary Form will be prepared by CDE staff and sent to the sub-grantee describing the required revisions or additional information needed. The sub-grantee will have approximately seven days to make the required revisions to Forms 5 and 6 and return them to CDE. This process is time-sensitive and can delay the processing of the Quarter 1 payment. Sub-grantees are encouraged to respond quickly to the areas identified. If you have any questions about the budget concerns, please contact the CDE staff that sent you the information.
Slide 8: Question Break
We will take a short break so that you may type your questions into the text box.
Slide 9: Overview of Federal Guidance
This slide provides links to several references to online documents. The links are also available on the CDE PCSGP Web site. These documents provide guidance for allowable expenses and general guidance for the PCSGP. If you have a question regarding the grant program, you should contact CDE staff in the PCSGP Program Office for technical assistance. Please do not reference any other allowable expense documents that you may have received in the past.
Slide 10: Supplement versus Supplant
As a federally funded program, the PCSGP is provided to supplement not supplant funding for a charter school. The funds from PCSGP are required to be expended on resources or activities that will enhance the program provided by the charter school. PCSGP funding may not be used to pay for existing levels of service funded from any other source, such as State or local resources, which is considered to be supplanting. All PCSGP funds must be used to support activities and programs described in the PCSGP approved application and Work Plan.
Slide 11: Allowable Costs Object Code 1000
I will now discuss each of the Object Codes. As we go through each of the sections I will provide some examples of expenditures that are allowable and those unallowable with PCSGP funds. Object Code 1000 is for Certificated Personnel Salaries, which include administrators, school counselors, and teachers. Although some certificated personnel salary expenses are allowed during the two implementation years, it is limited. Again, PCSGP funds cannot be used to supplant certificated personnel salaries during the implementation years. Some examples of PCSGP funds that may be used for certificated salaries include: “paying for substitute teachers when teachers are participating in professional development that is related to the PCSGP application program”; or funding stipends for teachers who are participating in PCSGP related activities that are outside of their regular classroom time schedule. Please check with CDE staff if you have questions regarding the use of PCSGP funds for personnel expenses.
Slide 12: Allowable Costs Object Code 2000
Object Code 2000 is for Classified Personnel Salaries, which include instructional support staff, office support staff, non-certificated technical support staff, classified supervisors, and classified administrators. Although some classified personnel salary expenses are allowed during the two implementation years, it is limited. PCSGP funds cannot be used to supplant personnel salaries during the implementation years. Some examples of PCSGP funds that may be used for classified salaries include: paying for substitute office support staff or classroom support staff when they are participating in professional development that is related to the sub-grantees PCSGP program; funding stipends or hourly compensation for classified staff who are participating in PCSGP related activities that are outside of their regular work calendar or daily schedule. Please check with CDE staff if you have questions regarding the use of PCSGP funds for personnel expenses.
Slide 13: Allowable Costs Object Code 3000
Object Code 3000 is for Employee Benefits, which include employee benefits for certificated and classified personnel. Although, some employee benefits expenses are allowed during the two implementation years as they relate to Object Code 1000 and 2000 allowable expenses during the two implementation years, it is limited. PCSGP funds cannot be used to supplant employee benefits during the implementation years.
Slide 14: Allowable Costs Object Code 4000
Object Code 4000 is for Books and Supplies. You can expense textbooks and core curriculum for all grade levels, and reference books and materials. Under object code 4400 Non-capitalized Equipment, you can use PCSGP funds to purchase classroom technology including desktop and laptop computers, printers and scanners, Smart Boards and LCD projectors, handhelds such as Ipads and document cameras. Keep in mind – Reasonable cost of expenditures – If you propose to serve 100 students at your charter school, you would not purchase 300 Ipads with PCSGP funds for student use. Regular classroom supplies that would be purchased with State or local funds on an on-going basis are not allowable during the two Implementation years.
Slide 15: Allowable Costs Object Code 5000
Object Code 5000 is Services and Other Operating Expenditures. Under object code 5000 a sub-grantee may expense contracts for professional development for certificated and classified staff, the required Board Governance and Fiscal Management training, travel and conference expenses as they relate to the seven elements, and the work plan within the application. Membership dues are not an allowable expense with PCSGP funds. The sub-grantee may expense rent or lease costs for their facility during the planning year, but not during the two implementation years.
Slide 16: Allowable Costs Object Code 6000
Object Code 6000 is for Capital Outlay Expenses. PCSGP funding is allowable for purchasing books and media for a new school library and equipment over $5000. PCSGP funding cannot be used to pay for building and building improvements, land improvements, or equipment replacement. Classroom technology equipment should be placed under object code 4400 Non-capitalized Equipment.
Slide 17: Allowable Costs Object Code 7000
Object code 7000 is not an allowable expenses. A charter authorizer or a Charter Management Organization cannot request Direct or Indirect costs from PCSGP funds.
Slide 18: Object Code Reference
PCSGP Form 8 Object of Expenditure Codes is a reference for sub-grantees to utilize when completing the Budget Narrative Form 6 and the Budget Summary Form 5. If you have any questions regarding an allowable expense and object code usage please contact CDE program staff for assistance.
Slide 19: PCSGP Budget Form 6
I have discussed each of the object codes and provided some examples for you. Slide 19 provides an example of a completed Budget Narrative Form, form 6. As you prepare your budget forms, you will begin with Form 6. Sub-grantees must provide sufficient information in the Budget Expenditure Detail column to describe the resources and activities and the costs associated with each object code. In the Budget Expenditure Detail column include the quantity of items and the per unit cost for each item and who will utilize the resource, who will participate in the activity, and who will provide the service. For example, purchasing 60 IPads (4th generation) from Apple @ $439/unit and 2 IPad charging carts to store the 60 IPads @ $2000/cart for student use in the classroom to access core curriculum resources and the internet. Form 6 will include the actual cost of the resources and activities for implementing the activities described in the application narrative and the Work Plan. Group the expenditures by object code series and provide totals by object code series and sub-grant year. The object code series total must correspond exactly to object code series total on Form 5 Budget Summary.
Slide 20: PCSGP Budget Summary Form 5
Once you have completed Form 6, you will enter your budget information into Budget Summary Form 5 – these are the totals for each object code. Form 5 should reflect the roll up by object code of your PCSGP budget. The Form 5 on this slide is a sample using the information from the previous slide showing a sample of PCSGP Budget Form 6. The dollar amounts entered on this form need to match the numbers in your object code totals from Form 6.
Slide 21: Question Break
We will now take another short break so that you may type your questions into the text box.
Slide 22 & 23: Budget Reporting – Quarterly Expenditure Report (QER)
Each sub-grantee is required to submit a Quarterly Expenditure Report (QER). These forms will take the place of the on-line Quarterly Benchmark Report (QBR) process that was utilized in previous budget years. Sub-grantees will use the QER form that should have been received last week as an attachment in an email, and posted on the CDE PCSGP Web page to report expenditures for the each quarter and cumulative for the entire grant year. The QER due dates are reflected on the QER Instructions page. Submission instructions are outlined on each QER form.
Slide 24: Budget Reporting – Annual Progress Report (APR)
In addition to the QER, each sub-grantee will be required to submit an Annual Progress Report (APR) that includes the Annual Progress Report Questionnaire and the Work Plan Status report. The APR will also include a narrative section identifying percent complete of each of the Work Plan Objectives and any changes that have occurred to the Program Plan. Along with the APR forms, you will need to submit you Work Plan reflecting the percentage completion of the Objectives within each Work Plan element. CDE will provide more details and direction on the Annual Progress Report in a subsequent technical assistance Webinar. For those sub-grantees that submitted their annual expenditure reporting using the on-line Comprehensive Phase Report system, known as the CPR, in the past, this APR reporting system will take the place of the on-line CPR system.
Slide 25: References
Again, here are several links to the online guidance and reference documents. If you have questions regarding the PCSGP, please contact CDE program staff for technical assistance.
Slide 26: Questions
Please submit your final questions into the text box.
Questions: PCSGP-Team, Charter Schools Division| PCSGP-APPS@cde.ca.gov | 916-