Question: I believe it is strongly recommended that all districts within the county be on the same financial software system. What influence or authority does the County Office have to make this happen?  Is there anything new coming forward to increase our authority in this area?  If the districts are not on the same system, what can the county require as far as access to data and reports? Should we require downloads into the county system? Additionally, I understand we have the same AB1200 oversight on a fiscally independent district as we do on all districts - please confirm.

Response: Although it is recommended that all districts in a county be on the same financial system, there is no statute or requirement to do so. Use of a single system county-wide does facilitate county office oversight and district accountability. It may be possible for a county office to declare a district a “lack of going concern” if the district does not provide accurate and/or usable reports, as the county would not able to provide adequate oversight.

Debate over this particular issue has recently gained some momentum with the passage of AB 2756 (Daucher).  We expect this conversation to continue during the next session of the Legislature and are hopeful that there will be some level of resolution in the near future.

County oversight responsibility in terms of AB1200 is exactly the same for fiscally accountable and fiscally independent school districts as it is for those that are not.  In this area, processes and procedures should be the same for all districts within the county.