The California Department of Education (CDE) hosted a webinar on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, to provide instructions and field questions regarding the Learning Continuity and Attendance Plan (Learning Continuity Plan), which local educational agencies (LEAs) are required to complete in lieu of the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) for the 2020–21 school year.
During the webinar, CDE staff announced that they had just released a frequently asked questions (FAQs) list to assist LEAs in completing their Learning Continuity Plans by the September 30, 2020, deadline pursuant to the recently enacted State Budget (see, “By the Way . . . CDE Posts First Round of FAQs for Distance Learning,” in the July 2020 Fiscal Report). The CDE said that the final version of the Learning Continuity Plan template will be released sometime this week, meeting the August 1 deadline that is stipulated in statute.
The webinar provided important information regarding the requirements and process for completing and submitting the Learning Continuity Plan. LEAs are required to hold two public meetings prior to approving their plans. The first meeting would allow for review and comment by members of the public, whereas the second meeting, which must be held on a different day from the first, is where the governing board would vote to approve the plan. Statute does not require either of these meetings to occur at a pre-scheduled board meeting—meaning an LEA governing board can schedule special board meetings in order to satisfy the public meeting and adoption requirements.
Within five days of an LEA governing board adopting its Learning Continuity Plan, a school district must file its plan with their county superintendent of schools, a county office of education (COE) must submit its plan with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and a charter school must submit its plan to their chartering authority and COE (unless the COE is the chartering authority). Reviewing authorities may submit written recommendations for amendments to school district and COE Learning Continuity Plans by October 30, 2020, which must be considered by the district or COE at a public meeting within 15 days of receiving the recommendations. Statute does not require charter schools to consider recommendations from their chartering authority or COE at a public meeting.
CDE staff received a number of questions regarding completion of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Budget Overview for Parents, which is developed and adopted alongside an LEA’s LCAP. However, since Senate Bill 98 separates the development and adoption of the LCFF Budget Overview for Parents from the LCAP for the 2020–21 school year, the CDE reminded those on the webinar that LEAs are still currently required to develop and adopt their LCFF Budget Overview for Parents by December 15, 2020. The repeal or suspension of this requirement may be the subject to clean-up in the summer budget trailer bill before the legislative session comes to a close, but for now LEAs should plan as though they will need to satisfy this requirement.
You can find the link to the CDE’s Learning Continuity Plan’s FAQs here and we will provide the link to the finalized template when the CDE makes it available later this week.