STATE STATUTES & CODES
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CALIFORNIA STATUTES AND CODES
SECTIONS 41010-41023
EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 41010-41023
41010. The accounting system used to record the financial affairs of any school district shall be in accordance with the definitions, instructions, and procedures published in the California School Accounting Manual as approved by the State Board of Education and furnished by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. No accounting manual so approved shall expressly or by implication affect the content of any educational program or objective, except as otherwise specifically provided for by this code. The Legislature hereby finds that such content shall be best determined by those involved in the administration of educational programs, including school district governing boards, local administrators, teachers, students, and parents. 41011. The accounting system used to record the financial affairs of any school district shall be designed to provide separate recording and clear distinction between expenditures for salaries of classroom teachers employed by the district and expenditures for other purposes of the district. As used in this section "salaries of classroom teachers" means: (a) The salary paid to each teacher employed by the district whose duties require that the full time for which the teacher is employed be devoted to the teaching of pupils of the district. (b) The portion of the salary of each teacher whose duties require that a part, but not all, of the full time for which the teacher is employed be devoted to the teaching of pupils of the district, which is equal to the portion of such full time actually devoted by the teacher to teaching pupils of the district. (c) The salary paid to each instructional aide employed by the district, any portion of whose duties are required to be performed under the supervision of a classroom teacher. As used in this section a "teacher" means an employee of the district employed in a position requiring certification qualifications and whose duties require him to teach pupils of the district for at least one full instructional period each schoolday for which the employee is employed. In the case of a teacher employed to teach in an elementary school, an instructional period is a period of not less than 20 minutes. In the case of a teacher employed to teach in a secondary school, an instructional period is the number of minutes equal to the number of minutes of the regular academic period in the junior high school, or high school, in which the teacher is employed to teach. 41012. For purposes of determining allowances pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 52200) of Part 28, and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 56500) and Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 56600) of Part 30, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall require the use of a uniform cost accounting procedure, as set forth in the California School Accounting Manual. 41013. For the purpose of achieving clarity and uniformity in the budgeting and reporting of school district expenditures by funds, whenever certain expenditures for the children's center program, the development center for handicapped minors program, or any similar program, except the food service program, for which a special fund is required by law, are: (1) authorized by law and by action of the governing board to be paid from the general fund of the school district, or (2) required by law to be paid from the general fund of the school district, the amount estimated or actually required to meet these expenditures shall be transferred or paid from the general fund to the children's center fund, the development center for handicapped minors fund, or other special fund as appropriate. Any amount transferred or paid in excess of the amount actually required shall be refunded to the general fund. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is hereby authorized to adopt rules and regulations governing the method of accounting for said payments and transfers. 41014. Excepting only as provided in Article 1 (commencing with Section 41000) and this article, all constitutional and statutory limitations on the purposes for which moneys derived from particular specified sources may be expended, and all statutory provisions relative to the establishment of specified school district funds, shall be administered by county superintendents of schools, or in the discretion of county auditors, by county superintendents of schools and county auditors by means of budgetary accounting and not by the establishment and maintenance in the county or city and county treasury of special school district funds. 41015. The governing board of any school district or any county office of education which has funds in a special reserve fund of the district or county office of education or any surplus moneys not required for the immediate necessities of the district or county office of education, is hereby authorized to invest all or any part of the funds in any of the investments specified in Section 16430 or 53601 of the Government Code. 41016. The governing board of a school district which has made an investment pursuant to the authority of Section 41015 may deposit such security for safekeeping with a state or national bank or trust company located within this state or with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or any branch thereof within the state, or with any Federal Reserve bank or with any state or national bank located in any city designated as a reserve city by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The governing board shall take from such bank a receipt for the security so deposited. The county treasurer with whom such funds if uninvested would be deposited shall not be responsible for securities delivered to and receipted for by a bank under the authority of this section until they are withdrawn from the bank by said treasurer. 41017. The governing board of any school district or any county office of education may authorize any school district governed by it, or any school under its jurisdiction to deposit in one or more bank accounts as clearing accounts any miscellaneous receipts, including receipts from the sale of property or materials pursuant to Section 39526 or 39527, received or collected by the school district or county office of education, and may provide for the withdrawals from those accounts. All moneys in those bank accounts shall be paid into the county treasury within the time periods specified pursuant to Section 41001. Cashiers' checks, certified checks, and money placed in the custody of the school district or county office of education as security that a bidder will execute or faithfully perform a contract, if awarded to him or her, may be deposited in those bank accounts but shall not be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the school district or county office of education unless forfeited or unless unclaimed by the bidder for a period of 12 months. Such bank accounts shall not be subject to the deposit of funds provisions of Article 2 (commencing with Section 53630) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, except to the extent provided by Section 53679 of the Government Code. 41018. The governing board of any school district or any county office of education having an average daily attendance of 100,000 or more may deposit in one or more bank accounts moneys received from the temporary rental of property acquired by a school district or county office of education pending construction of school facilities on the property. The moneys may be held in the accounts for a period of not to exceed three years and may be used to pay any proper costs incurred as a result of the temporary rental, provided that when the moneys are not being used to pay the costs they may be invested, along with all other moneys deposited in clearing accounts, pursuant to Section 41015 as determined by the governing board of the school district or the county office of education. The moneys invested pursuant to this section shall be invested with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with these matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of like character and with like aims. 41019. The governing board of any school district which maintains clearing accounts, cafeteria accounts, and other accounts in a bank or banks, pursuant to Section 41017 or 39892, or pursuant to any other provisions of law, may contract and pay for the expenses of transporting money to and from such bank or banks. 41020. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage sound fiscal management practices among local educational agencies for the most efficient and effective use of public funds for the education of children in California by strengthening fiscal accountability at the district, county, and state levels. (b) (1) Not later than the first day of May of each fiscal year, each county superintendent of schools shall provide for an audit of all funds under his or her jurisdiction and control and the governing board of each local educational agency shall either provide for an audit of the books and accounts of the local educational agency, including an audit of income and expenditures by source of funds, or make arrangements with the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction over the local educational agency to provide for that auditing. (2) A contract to perform the audit of a local educational agency that has a disapproved budget or has received a negative certification on any budget or interim financial report during the current fiscal year or either of the two preceding fiscal years, or for which the county superintendent of schools has otherwise determined that a lack of going concern exists, is not valid unless approved by the responsible county superintendent of schools and the governing board. (3) If the governing board of a local educational agency has not provided for an audit of the books and accounts of the local educational agency by April 1, the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction over the local educational agency shall provide for the audit of each local educational agency. (4) An audit conducted pursuant to this section shall comply fully with the Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. (5) For purposes of this section, "local educational agency" does not include community colleges. (c) Each audit conducted in accordance with this section shall include all funds of the local educational agency, including the student body and cafeteria funds and accounts and any other funds under the control or jurisdiction of the local educational agency. Each audit shall also include an audit of pupil attendance procedures. (d) All audit reports for each fiscal year shall be developed and reported using a format established by the Controller after consultation with the Superintendent and the Director of Finance. (e) (1) The cost of the audits provided for by the county superintendent of schools shall be paid from the county school service fund and the county superintendent of schools shall transfer the pro rata share of the cost chargeable to each district from district funds. (2) The cost of the audit provided for by a governing board shall be paid from local educational agency funds. The audit of the funds under the jurisdiction and control of the county superintendent of schools shall be paid from the county school service fund. (f) (1) The audits shall be made by a certified public accountant or a public accountant, licensed by the California Board of Accountancy, and selected by the local educational agency, as applicable, from a directory of certified public accountants and public accountants deemed by the Controller as qualified to conduct audits of local educational agencies, which shall be published by the Controller not later than December 31 of each year. (2) Commencing with the 2003-04 fiscal year and except as provided in subdivision (d) of Section 41320.1, it is unlawful for a public accounting firm to provide audit services to a local educational agency if the lead audit partner, or coordinating audit partner, having primary responsibility for the audit, or the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit, has performed audit services for that local educational agency in each of the six previous fiscal years. The Education Audits Appeal Panel may waive this requirement if the panel finds that no otherwise eligible auditor is available to perform the audit. (3) It is the intent of the Legislature that, notwithstanding paragraph (2), the rotation within public accounting firms conform to provisions of the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-204; 15 U.S.C. Sec. 7201 et seq.), and upon release of the report required by the act of the Comptroller General of the United States addressing the mandatory rotation of registered public accounting firms, the Legislature intends to reconsider the provisions of paragraph (2). In determining which certified public accountants and public accountants shall be included in the directory, the Controller shall use the following criteria: (A) The certified public accountants or public accountants shall be in good standing as certified by the Board of Accountancy. (B) The certified public accountants or public accountants, as a result of a quality control review conducted by the Controller pursuant to Section 14504.2, shall not have been found to have conducted an audit in a manner constituting noncompliance with subdivision (a) of Section 14503. (g) (1) The auditor's report shall include each of the following: (A) A statement that the audit was conducted pursuant to standards and procedures developed in accordance with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 14500) of Part 9 of Division 1 of Title 1. (B) A summary of audit exceptions and management improvement recommendations. (C) Each audit of a local educational agency shall include an evaluation by the auditor on whether there is substantial doubt about the ability of the local educational agency to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time. This evaluation shall be based on the Statement of Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 59, as issued by the AICPA regarding disclosure requirements relating to the ability of the entity to continue as a going concern. (2) To the extent possible, a description of correction or plan of correction shall be incorporated in the audit report, describing the specific actions that are planned to be taken, or that have been taken, to correct the problem identified by the auditor. The descriptions of specific actions to be taken or that have been taken shall not solely consist of general comments such as "will implement," "accepted the recommendation," or "will discuss at a later date." (h) Not later than December 15, a report of each local educational agency audit for the preceding fiscal year shall be filed with the county superintendent of schools of the county in which the local educational agency is located, the department, and the Controller. The Superintendent shall make any adjustments necessary in future apportionments of all state funds, to correct any audit exceptions revealed by those audit reports. (i) (1) Commencing with the 2002-03 audit of local educational agencies pursuant to this section and subdivision (d) of Section 41320.1, each county superintendent of schools shall be responsible for reviewing the audit exceptions contained in an audit of a local educational agency under his or her jurisdiction related to attendance, inventory of equipment, internal control, and any miscellaneous items, and determining whether the exceptions have been either corrected or an acceptable plan of correction has been developed. (2) Commencing with the 2004-05 audit of local educational agencies pursuant to this section and subdivision (d) of Section 41320.1, each county superintendent of schools shall include in the review of audit exceptions performed pursuant to this subdivision those audit exceptions related to use of instructional materials program funds, teacher misassignments pursuant to Section 44258.9, information reported on the school accountability report card required pursuant to Section 33126 and shall determine whether the exceptions are either corrected or an acceptable plan of correction has been developed. (j) Upon submission of the final audit report to the governing board of each local educational agency and subsequent receipt of the audit by the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction over the local educational agency, the county office of education shall do all of the following: (1) Review audit exceptions related to attendance, inventory of equipment, internal control, and other miscellaneous exceptions. Attendance exceptions or issues shall include, but not be limited to, those related to revenue limits, adult education, and independent study. (2) If a description of the correction or plan of correction has not been provided as part of the audit required by this section, then the county superintendent of schools shall notify the local educational agency and request the governing board of the local educational agency to provide to the county superintendent of schools a description of the corrections or plan of correction by March 15. (3) Review the description of correction or plan of correction and determine its adequacy. If the description of the correction or plan of correction is not adequate, the county superintendent of schools shall require the local educational agency to resubmit that portion of its response that is inadequate. (k) Each county superintendent of schools shall certify to the Superintendent and the Controller, not later than May 15, that his or her staff has reviewed all audits of local educational agencies under his or her jurisdiction for the prior fiscal year, that all exceptions that the county superintendent was required to review were reviewed, and that all of those exceptions, except as otherwise noted in the certification, have been corrected by the local educational agency or that an acceptable plan of correction has been submitted to the county superintendent of schools. In addition, the county superintendent shall identify, by local educational agency, any attendance-related audit exception or exceptions involving state funds, and require the local educational agency to which the audit exceptions were directed to submit appropriate reporting forms for processing by the Superintendent. (l) In the audit of a local educational agency for a subsequent year, the auditor shall review the correction or plan or plans of correction submitted by the local educational agency to determine if the exceptions have been resolved. If not, the auditor shall immediately notify the appropriate county office of education and the department and restate the exception in the audit report. After receiving that notification, the department shall either consult with the local educational agency to resolve the exception or require the county superintendent of schools to follow up with the local educational agency. (m) (1) The Superintendent shall be responsible for ensuring that local educational agencies have either corrected or developed plans of correction for any one or more of the following: (A) All federal and state compliance audit exceptions identified in the audit. (B) Any exceptions that the county superintendent certifies as of May 15 have not been corrected. (C) Any repeat audit exceptions that are not assigned to a county superintendent to correct. (2) In addition, the Superintendent shall be responsible for ensuring that county superintendents of schools and each county board of education that serves as the governing board of a local educational agency either correct all audit exceptions identified in the audits of county superintendents of schools and of the local educational agencies for which the county boards of education serve as the governing boards or develop acceptable plans of correction for those exceptions. (3) The Superintendent shall report annually to the Controller on his or her actions to ensure that school districts, county superintendents of schools, and each county board of education that serves as the governing board of a school district have either corrected or developed plans of correction for any of the exceptions noted pursuant to paragraph (1). (n) To facilitate correction of the exceptions identified by the audits issued pursuant to this section, commencing with 2002-03 audits pursuant to this section, the Controller shall require auditors to categorize audit exceptions in each audit report in a manner that will make it clear to both the county superintendent of schools and the Superintendent which exceptions they are responsible for ensuring the correction of by a local educational agency. In addition, the Controller annually shall select a sampling of county superintendents of schools and perform a followup of the audit resolution process of those county superintendents of schools and report the results of that followup to the Superintendent and the county superintendents of schools that were reviewed. (o) County superintendents of schools shall adjust subsequent local property tax requirements to correct audit exceptions relating to local educational agency tax rates and tax revenues. (p) If a governing board or county superintendent of schools fails or is unable to make satisfactory arrangements for the audit pursuant to this section, the Controller shall make arrangements for the audit and the cost of the audit shall be paid from local educational agency funds or the county school service fund, as the case may be. (q) Audits of regional occupational centers and programs are subject to the provisions of this section. (r) This section does not authorize examination of, or reports on, the curriculum used or provided for in any local educational agency. (s) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a nonauditing, management, or other consulting service to be provided to a local educational agency by a certified public accounting firm while the certified public accounting firm is performing an audit of the agency pursuant to this section must be in accord with Government Accounting Standards, Amendment No. 3, as published by the United States General Accounting Office. 41020.1. Reports of audits previously filed with the county clerk pursuant to Section 41020 shall be disposed of by the county clerk or returned to the respective superintendent of schools. 41020.2. (a) If a school district governing board has entered into a contract for an independent audit of its financial statements in accordance with Section 41020 and the audited financial statements have not been filed with the county superintendent of schools on or before the due date established under Section 41020, the county superintendent of schools may investigate the causes for the delay and initiate one of the following actions that will provide the required audited financial statements in the most effective manner: (1) The county superintendent of schools may, after consultation with the school district governing board and the auditors under contract to the district, and with the consent of the Controller's office and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, grant an appropriate extension for the completion of the audit and the filing of the audited financial statements. An extension does not waive the legal deadline, but permits the filing of the report after the deadline. (2) The county superintendent of schools may, after consultation with the school district governing board, the auditors under contract to the district, and the Controller's office, contract with another qualified certified public accountant or public accountant to obtain the required audited financial statements and charge the cost of the audit to the funds of the district. The county superintendent of schools shall, to the extent feasible, assist the district in initiating action to avoid payment to the auditors under contract who did not complete the original audit. (3) The county superintendent of schools may request the Controller's office to investigate the situation and initiate action as provided in subdivision (b). (b) If the audited financial statements required by Section 41020 have not been filed by a school district or county superintendent of schools with the Controller's office on or before the due date established under Section 41020, the Controller's office shall determine the most advantageous method of obtaining the required audited financial statements. The Controller's office may do any of the following: (1) Accept the action of the county superintendent of schools permitted by subdivision (a). (2) Conduct the audit and prepare the auditor's report, utilizing the staff available within that office and charge the cost of the audit to the next regular apportionment from the State School Fund to the district or county superintendent of schools. (3) Contract with any qualified certified public accountant or public accountant, utilizing the appropriate contracting procedures, for the conduct of the audit and preparation of the audited financial statements and charge the cost of the audit to the next regular apportionment from the State School Fund to the district or county superintendent of schools. (4) Grant a reasonable extension of the time for filing the report if, in the judgment of the Controller's office, this will provide the required audited financial statements within the shortest time period. The extension of the time for filing does not waive the legal deadline, but permits the filing of the report after the deadline. The Controller's office shall consult with the district governing board, the county superintendent of schools, and the auditors under contract to the district or county superintendent of schools before making the determination of the method to be used in obtaining the audited financial statements. The Controller's office shall, to the extent feasible, assist the district or county superintendent in initiating action to avoid payment to the auditors under contract who did not complete the original audit. (c) Notwithstanding any extension granted under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) or paragraph (4) of subdivision (b), the Controller's office may determine at any time after the due date for filing of audit reports established by Section 41020 that the audited financial statements not yet filed with that office are delinquent and that the audit will be performed under paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (b). 41020.3. By January 31 of each year, the governing body of each local education agency shall review, at a public meeting, the annual audit of the local education agency for the prior year, any audit exceptions identified in that audit, the recommendations or findings of any management letter issued by the auditor, and any description of correction or plans to correct any exceptions or management letter issue. This review shall be placed on the agenda of the meeting pursuant to Section 35145. 41020.5. (a) If the Controller determines by two consecutive quality control reviews pursuant to Section 14504.2, or if a county superintendent of schools determines, that audits performed by a certified public accountant or public accountant under Section 41020 were not performed in substantial conformity with provisions of the audit guide, or that the audit reports, including amended reports, submitted by February 15 following the close of the fiscal year audited, for two consecutive years do not conform to provisions of the audit guide as required by Section 14504, the Controller or the county superintendent of schools, as appropriate, shall notify in writing the certified public accountant or public accountant and the California Board of Accountancy. If the certified public accountant or public accountant does not file an appeal in writing with the California Board of Accountancy within 30 calendar days after receipt of the notification from the Controller or county superintendent of schools, the determination of the Controller or county superintendent of schools pursuant to this section shall be final. (b) If an appeal is filed with the California Board of Accountancy, the board shall complete an investigation of the appeal within 90 days of the filing date. On the basis of the investigation, the board may do either of the following: (1) Find that the determination of the Controller or county superintendent of schools should not be upheld and has no effect. (2) Schedule the appeal for a hearing, in which case, the final action on the appeal shall be completed by the board within one year from the date of filing the appeal. (c) If the determination of the Controller or county superintendent of schools under subdivision (a) becomes final, the certified public accountant or public accountant shall be ineligible to conduct audits under Section 41020 for a period of three years, or, in the event of an appeal, for any period, and subject to the conditions, that may be ordered by the California Board of Accountancy. Not later than the first day of March of each year, the Controller shall notify each school district and county office of education of those certified public accountants or public accountants determined to be ineligible under this section. School districts and county offices of education shall not use the audit services of a certified public accountant or public accountant ineligible under this section. (d) For the purposes of this section, "certified public accountant or public accountant" includes any person or firm entering into a contract to conduct an audit under Section 41020. (e) This section shall not preclude the California Board of Accountancy from taking any disciplinary action it deems appropriate under other provisions of law. 41020.6. On October 1, 2001, and each year thereafter, the State Department of Education shall report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on the actions taken by the department to eliminate audit exceptions and comply with management improvement recommendations. 41020.8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the auditor conducting the annual audit pursuant to Section 41020 shall, upon request, provide the county superintendent or the Superintendent of Public Instruction with fiscal information on a school district within his or her jurisdiction if the county superintendent of schools determines, pursuant to Section 42127.6, that a school district may not be able to meet its obligations of the current or subsequent fiscal year. Information provided by an auditor to a county superintendent or the Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to this section shall be submitted simultaneously to the named district and shall not constitute a violation of auditor-client confidentiality. 41021. The governing board of every school district shall require each employee of the district, whose duty it is to handle funds of the district, and may, in its discretion, require employees of the district, whose duty it is to handle property of the district, to be bonded under a suitable bond indemnifying the district against loss. Such bond may be a name schedule bond, schedule position bond or blanket bond, and shall be in such amount and type as the board shall consider necessary and desirable. The boards shall pay from the funds of the district the cost of the premium necessary to provide the bond. 41022. Except as provided in this section, any election held for the purpose permitting a school district to exceed the expenditure of school district funds fixed by the Constitution or by the statutes of the state shall be called, held, and conducted as nearly as possible as are elections for the issuance of school district bonds. The notice of election shall contain only the following: (a) The time and place or places of holding the election. (b) The names of the officers appointed to conduct the election. (c) The hours during the day in which the polls will be open. (d) The amount by which it is proposed to increase the expenditures of the district during the school year. (e) The total amount of proposed expenditures of the district, including the proposed increase, for the school year. The ballots used at the election shall contain the following language: "Shall the total authorized expenditures of the district be increased from ____ (naming the sum) to ____ (naming the sum) for the school year ____ (naming the school year) " The hours during which the polls at the election are open shall be fixed in accordance with Section 14212 of the Elections Code. 41023. (a) Any agency organized pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, the parties of which consist solely of school districts and county offices of education, shall be subject to the same restrictions as are applicable to school districts and county offices of education, under that chapter, including the preparation of budget and financial statements required by Article 1 (commencing with Section 42100) and this article; the certifications required by Article 3 (commencing with Section 42130) of Chapter 6 of Part 24; the accounting and auditing requirements prescribed by Article 1 (commencing with Section 42100) and this article; and the expenditure and appropriation controls prescribed by Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 42600) of Part 24. This section does not apply to joint powers agreements that are for the performance of the powers described in Section 17567. (b) Each agency described in subdivision (a) shall annually report to their participating school districts and county superintendents of schools on forms prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
SECTION 41010-41023
41010. The accounting system used to record the financial affairs of any school district shall be in accordance with the definitions, instructions, and procedures published in the California School Accounting Manual as approved by the State Board of Education and furnished by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. No accounting manual so approved shall expressly or by implication affect the content of any educational program or objective, except as otherwise specifically provided for by this code. The Legislature hereby finds that such content shall be best determined by those involved in the administration of educational programs, including school district governing boards, local administrators, teachers, students, and parents. 41011. The accounting system used to record the financial affairs of any school district shall be designed to provide separate recording and clear distinction between expenditures for salaries of classroom teachers employed by the district and expenditures for other purposes of the district. As used in this section "salaries of classroom teachers" means: (a) The salary paid to each teacher employed by the district whose duties require that the full time for which the teacher is employed be devoted to the teaching of pupils of the district. (b) The portion of the salary of each teacher whose duties require that a part, but not all, of the full time for which the teacher is employed be devoted to the teaching of pupils of the district, which is equal to the portion of such full time actually devoted by the teacher to teaching pupils of the district. (c) The salary paid to each instructional aide employed by the district, any portion of whose duties are required to be performed under the supervision of a classroom teacher. As used in this section a "teacher" means an employee of the district employed in a position requiring certification qualifications and whose duties require him to teach pupils of the district for at least one full instructional period each schoolday for which the employee is employed. In the case of a teacher employed to teach in an elementary school, an instructional period is a period of not less than 20 minutes. In the case of a teacher employed to teach in a secondary school, an instructional period is the number of minutes equal to the number of minutes of the regular academic period in the junior high school, or high school, in which the teacher is employed to teach. 41012. For purposes of determining allowances pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 52200) of Part 28, and Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 56500) and Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 56600) of Part 30, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall require the use of a uniform cost accounting procedure, as set forth in the California School Accounting Manual. 41013. For the purpose of achieving clarity and uniformity in the budgeting and reporting of school district expenditures by funds, whenever certain expenditures for the children's center program, the development center for handicapped minors program, or any similar program, except the food service program, for which a special fund is required by law, are: (1) authorized by law and by action of the governing board to be paid from the general fund of the school district, or (2) required by law to be paid from the general fund of the school district, the amount estimated or actually required to meet these expenditures shall be transferred or paid from the general fund to the children's center fund, the development center for handicapped minors fund, or other special fund as appropriate. Any amount transferred or paid in excess of the amount actually required shall be refunded to the general fund. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is hereby authorized to adopt rules and regulations governing the method of accounting for said payments and transfers. 41014. Excepting only as provided in Article 1 (commencing with Section 41000) and this article, all constitutional and statutory limitations on the purposes for which moneys derived from particular specified sources may be expended, and all statutory provisions relative to the establishment of specified school district funds, shall be administered by county superintendents of schools, or in the discretion of county auditors, by county superintendents of schools and county auditors by means of budgetary accounting and not by the establishment and maintenance in the county or city and county treasury of special school district funds. 41015. The governing board of any school district or any county office of education which has funds in a special reserve fund of the district or county office of education or any surplus moneys not required for the immediate necessities of the district or county office of education, is hereby authorized to invest all or any part of the funds in any of the investments specified in Section 16430 or 53601 of the Government Code. 41016. The governing board of a school district which has made an investment pursuant to the authority of Section 41015 may deposit such security for safekeeping with a state or national bank or trust company located within this state or with the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco or any branch thereof within the state, or with any Federal Reserve bank or with any state or national bank located in any city designated as a reserve city by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. The governing board shall take from such bank a receipt for the security so deposited. The county treasurer with whom such funds if uninvested would be deposited shall not be responsible for securities delivered to and receipted for by a bank under the authority of this section until they are withdrawn from the bank by said treasurer. 41017. The governing board of any school district or any county office of education may authorize any school district governed by it, or any school under its jurisdiction to deposit in one or more bank accounts as clearing accounts any miscellaneous receipts, including receipts from the sale of property or materials pursuant to Section 39526 or 39527, received or collected by the school district or county office of education, and may provide for the withdrawals from those accounts. All moneys in those bank accounts shall be paid into the county treasury within the time periods specified pursuant to Section 41001. Cashiers' checks, certified checks, and money placed in the custody of the school district or county office of education as security that a bidder will execute or faithfully perform a contract, if awarded to him or her, may be deposited in those bank accounts but shall not be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the school district or county office of education unless forfeited or unless unclaimed by the bidder for a period of 12 months. Such bank accounts shall not be subject to the deposit of funds provisions of Article 2 (commencing with Section 53630) of Chapter 4 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 5 of the Government Code, except to the extent provided by Section 53679 of the Government Code. 41018. The governing board of any school district or any county office of education having an average daily attendance of 100,000 or more may deposit in one or more bank accounts moneys received from the temporary rental of property acquired by a school district or county office of education pending construction of school facilities on the property. The moneys may be held in the accounts for a period of not to exceed three years and may be used to pay any proper costs incurred as a result of the temporary rental, provided that when the moneys are not being used to pay the costs they may be invested, along with all other moneys deposited in clearing accounts, pursuant to Section 41015 as determined by the governing board of the school district or the county office of education. The moneys invested pursuant to this section shall be invested with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with these matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of like character and with like aims. 41019. The governing board of any school district which maintains clearing accounts, cafeteria accounts, and other accounts in a bank or banks, pursuant to Section 41017 or 39892, or pursuant to any other provisions of law, may contract and pay for the expenses of transporting money to and from such bank or banks. 41020. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage sound fiscal management practices among local educational agencies for the most efficient and effective use of public funds for the education of children in California by strengthening fiscal accountability at the district, county, and state levels. (b) (1) Not later than the first day of May of each fiscal year, each county superintendent of schools shall provide for an audit of all funds under his or her jurisdiction and control and the governing board of each local educational agency shall either provide for an audit of the books and accounts of the local educational agency, including an audit of income and expenditures by source of funds, or make arrangements with the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction over the local educational agency to provide for that auditing. (2) A contract to perform the audit of a local educational agency that has a disapproved budget or has received a negative certification on any budget or interim financial report during the current fiscal year or either of the two preceding fiscal years, or for which the county superintendent of schools has otherwise determined that a lack of going concern exists, is not valid unless approved by the responsible county superintendent of schools and the governing board. (3) If the governing board of a local educational agency has not provided for an audit of the books and accounts of the local educational agency by April 1, the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction over the local educational agency shall provide for the audit of each local educational agency. (4) An audit conducted pursuant to this section shall comply fully with the Government Auditing Standards issued by the Comptroller General of the United States. (5) For purposes of this section, "local educational agency" does not include community colleges. (c) Each audit conducted in accordance with this section shall include all funds of the local educational agency, including the student body and cafeteria funds and accounts and any other funds under the control or jurisdiction of the local educational agency. Each audit shall also include an audit of pupil attendance procedures. (d) All audit reports for each fiscal year shall be developed and reported using a format established by the Controller after consultation with the Superintendent and the Director of Finance. (e) (1) The cost of the audits provided for by the county superintendent of schools shall be paid from the county school service fund and the county superintendent of schools shall transfer the pro rata share of the cost chargeable to each district from district funds. (2) The cost of the audit provided for by a governing board shall be paid from local educational agency funds. The audit of the funds under the jurisdiction and control of the county superintendent of schools shall be paid from the county school service fund. (f) (1) The audits shall be made by a certified public accountant or a public accountant, licensed by the California Board of Accountancy, and selected by the local educational agency, as applicable, from a directory of certified public accountants and public accountants deemed by the Controller as qualified to conduct audits of local educational agencies, which shall be published by the Controller not later than December 31 of each year. (2) Commencing with the 2003-04 fiscal year and except as provided in subdivision (d) of Section 41320.1, it is unlawful for a public accounting firm to provide audit services to a local educational agency if the lead audit partner, or coordinating audit partner, having primary responsibility for the audit, or the audit partner responsible for reviewing the audit, has performed audit services for that local educational agency in each of the six previous fiscal years. The Education Audits Appeal Panel may waive this requirement if the panel finds that no otherwise eligible auditor is available to perform the audit. (3) It is the intent of the Legislature that, notwithstanding paragraph (2), the rotation within public accounting firms conform to provisions of the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-204; 15 U.S.C. Sec. 7201 et seq.), and upon release of the report required by the act of the Comptroller General of the United States addressing the mandatory rotation of registered public accounting firms, the Legislature intends to reconsider the provisions of paragraph (2). In determining which certified public accountants and public accountants shall be included in the directory, the Controller shall use the following criteria: (A) The certified public accountants or public accountants shall be in good standing as certified by the Board of Accountancy. (B) The certified public accountants or public accountants, as a result of a quality control review conducted by the Controller pursuant to Section 14504.2, shall not have been found to have conducted an audit in a manner constituting noncompliance with subdivision (a) of Section 14503. (g) (1) The auditor's report shall include each of the following: (A) A statement that the audit was conducted pursuant to standards and procedures developed in accordance with Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 14500) of Part 9 of Division 1 of Title 1. (B) A summary of audit exceptions and management improvement recommendations. (C) Each audit of a local educational agency shall include an evaluation by the auditor on whether there is substantial doubt about the ability of the local educational agency to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time. This evaluation shall be based on the Statement of Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 59, as issued by the AICPA regarding disclosure requirements relating to the ability of the entity to continue as a going concern. (2) To the extent possible, a description of correction or plan of correction shall be incorporated in the audit report, describing the specific actions that are planned to be taken, or that have been taken, to correct the problem identified by the auditor. The descriptions of specific actions to be taken or that have been taken shall not solely consist of general comments such as "will implement," "accepted the recommendation," or "will discuss at a later date." (h) Not later than December 15, a report of each local educational agency audit for the preceding fiscal year shall be filed with the county superintendent of schools of the county in which the local educational agency is located, the department, and the Controller. The Superintendent shall make any adjustments necessary in future apportionments of all state funds, to correct any audit exceptions revealed by those audit reports. (i) (1) Commencing with the 2002-03 audit of local educational agencies pursuant to this section and subdivision (d) of Section 41320.1, each county superintendent of schools shall be responsible for reviewing the audit exceptions contained in an audit of a local educational agency under his or her jurisdiction related to attendance, inventory of equipment, internal control, and any miscellaneous items, and determining whether the exceptions have been either corrected or an acceptable plan of correction has been developed. (2) Commencing with the 2004-05 audit of local educational agencies pursuant to this section and subdivision (d) of Section 41320.1, each county superintendent of schools shall include in the review of audit exceptions performed pursuant to this subdivision those audit exceptions related to use of instructional materials program funds, teacher misassignments pursuant to Section 44258.9, information reported on the school accountability report card required pursuant to Section 33126 and shall determine whether the exceptions are either corrected or an acceptable plan of correction has been developed. (j) Upon submission of the final audit report to the governing board of each local educational agency and subsequent receipt of the audit by the county superintendent of schools having jurisdiction over the local educational agency, the county office of education shall do all of the following: (1) Review audit exceptions related to attendance, inventory of equipment, internal control, and other miscellaneous exceptions. Attendance exceptions or issues shall include, but not be limited to, those related to revenue limits, adult education, and independent study. (2) If a description of the correction or plan of correction has not been provided as part of the audit required by this section, then the county superintendent of schools shall notify the local educational agency and request the governing board of the local educational agency to provide to the county superintendent of schools a description of the corrections or plan of correction by March 15. (3) Review the description of correction or plan of correction and determine its adequacy. If the description of the correction or plan of correction is not adequate, the county superintendent of schools shall require the local educational agency to resubmit that portion of its response that is inadequate. (k) Each county superintendent of schools shall certify to the Superintendent and the Controller, not later than May 15, that his or her staff has reviewed all audits of local educational agencies under his or her jurisdiction for the prior fiscal year, that all exceptions that the county superintendent was required to review were reviewed, and that all of those exceptions, except as otherwise noted in the certification, have been corrected by the local educational agency or that an acceptable plan of correction has been submitted to the county superintendent of schools. In addition, the county superintendent shall identify, by local educational agency, any attendance-related audit exception or exceptions involving state funds, and require the local educational agency to which the audit exceptions were directed to submit appropriate reporting forms for processing by the Superintendent. (l) In the audit of a local educational agency for a subsequent year, the auditor shall review the correction or plan or plans of correction submitted by the local educational agency to determine if the exceptions have been resolved. If not, the auditor shall immediately notify the appropriate county office of education and the department and restate the exception in the audit report. After receiving that notification, the department shall either consult with the local educational agency to resolve the exception or require the county superintendent of schools to follow up with the local educational agency. (m) (1) The Superintendent shall be responsible for ensuring that local educational agencies have either corrected or developed plans of correction for any one or more of the following: (A) All federal and state compliance audit exceptions identified in the audit. (B) Any exceptions that the county superintendent certifies as of May 15 have not been corrected. (C) Any repeat audit exceptions that are not assigned to a county superintendent to correct. (2) In addition, the Superintendent shall be responsible for ensuring that county superintendents of schools and each county board of education that serves as the governing board of a local educational agency either correct all audit exceptions identified in the audits of county superintendents of schools and of the local educational agencies for which the county boards of education serve as the governing boards or develop acceptable plans of correction for those exceptions. (3) The Superintendent shall report annually to the Controller on his or her actions to ensure that school districts, county superintendents of schools, and each county board of education that serves as the governing board of a school district have either corrected or developed plans of correction for any of the exceptions noted pursuant to paragraph (1). (n) To facilitate correction of the exceptions identified by the audits issued pursuant to this section, commencing with 2002-03 audits pursuant to this section, the Controller shall require auditors to categorize audit exceptions in each audit report in a manner that will make it clear to both the county superintendent of schools and the Superintendent which exceptions they are responsible for ensuring the correction of by a local educational agency. In addition, the Controller annually shall select a sampling of county superintendents of schools and perform a followup of the audit resolution process of those county superintendents of schools and report the results of that followup to the Superintendent and the county superintendents of schools that were reviewed. (o) County superintendents of schools shall adjust subsequent local property tax requirements to correct audit exceptions relating to local educational agency tax rates and tax revenues. (p) If a governing board or county superintendent of schools fails or is unable to make satisfactory arrangements for the audit pursuant to this section, the Controller shall make arrangements for the audit and the cost of the audit shall be paid from local educational agency funds or the county school service fund, as the case may be. (q) Audits of regional occupational centers and programs are subject to the provisions of this section. (r) This section does not authorize examination of, or reports on, the curriculum used or provided for in any local educational agency. (s) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a nonauditing, management, or other consulting service to be provided to a local educational agency by a certified public accounting firm while the certified public accounting firm is performing an audit of the agency pursuant to this section must be in accord with Government Accounting Standards, Amendment No. 3, as published by the United States General Accounting Office. 41020.1. Reports of audits previously filed with the county clerk pursuant to Section 41020 shall be disposed of by the county clerk or returned to the respective superintendent of schools. 41020.2. (a) If a school district governing board has entered into a contract for an independent audit of its financial statements in accordance with Section 41020 and the audited financial statements have not been filed with the county superintendent of schools on or before the due date established under Section 41020, the county superintendent of schools may investigate the causes for the delay and initiate one of the following actions that will provide the required audited financial statements in the most effective manner: (1) The county superintendent of schools may, after consultation with the school district governing board and the auditors under contract to the district, and with the consent of the Controller's office and the Superintendent of Public Instruction, grant an appropriate extension for the completion of the audit and the filing of the audited financial statements. An extension does not waive the legal deadline, but permits the filing of the report after the deadline. (2) The county superintendent of schools may, after consultation with the school district governing board, the auditors under contract to the district, and the Controller's office, contract with another qualified certified public accountant or public accountant to obtain the required audited financial statements and charge the cost of the audit to the funds of the district. The county superintendent of schools shall, to the extent feasible, assist the district in initiating action to avoid payment to the auditors under contract who did not complete the original audit. (3) The county superintendent of schools may request the Controller's office to investigate the situation and initiate action as provided in subdivision (b). (b) If the audited financial statements required by Section 41020 have not been filed by a school district or county superintendent of schools with the Controller's office on or before the due date established under Section 41020, the Controller's office shall determine the most advantageous method of obtaining the required audited financial statements. The Controller's office may do any of the following: (1) Accept the action of the county superintendent of schools permitted by subdivision (a). (2) Conduct the audit and prepare the auditor's report, utilizing the staff available within that office and charge the cost of the audit to the next regular apportionment from the State School Fund to the district or county superintendent of schools. (3) Contract with any qualified certified public accountant or public accountant, utilizing the appropriate contracting procedures, for the conduct of the audit and preparation of the audited financial statements and charge the cost of the audit to the next regular apportionment from the State School Fund to the district or county superintendent of schools. (4) Grant a reasonable extension of the time for filing the report if, in the judgment of the Controller's office, this will provide the required audited financial statements within the shortest time period. The extension of the time for filing does not waive the legal deadline, but permits the filing of the report after the deadline. The Controller's office shall consult with the district governing board, the county superintendent of schools, and the auditors under contract to the district or county superintendent of schools before making the determination of the method to be used in obtaining the audited financial statements. The Controller's office shall, to the extent feasible, assist the district or county superintendent in initiating action to avoid payment to the auditors under contract who did not complete the original audit. (c) Notwithstanding any extension granted under paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) or paragraph (4) of subdivision (b), the Controller's office may determine at any time after the due date for filing of audit reports established by Section 41020 that the audited financial statements not yet filed with that office are delinquent and that the audit will be performed under paragraph (2) or (3) of subdivision (b). 41020.3. By January 31 of each year, the governing body of each local education agency shall review, at a public meeting, the annual audit of the local education agency for the prior year, any audit exceptions identified in that audit, the recommendations or findings of any management letter issued by the auditor, and any description of correction or plans to correct any exceptions or management letter issue. This review shall be placed on the agenda of the meeting pursuant to Section 35145. 41020.5. (a) If the Controller determines by two consecutive quality control reviews pursuant to Section 14504.2, or if a county superintendent of schools determines, that audits performed by a certified public accountant or public accountant under Section 41020 were not performed in substantial conformity with provisions of the audit guide, or that the audit reports, including amended reports, submitted by February 15 following the close of the fiscal year audited, for two consecutive years do not conform to provisions of the audit guide as required by Section 14504, the Controller or the county superintendent of schools, as appropriate, shall notify in writing the certified public accountant or public accountant and the California Board of Accountancy. If the certified public accountant or public accountant does not file an appeal in writing with the California Board of Accountancy within 30 calendar days after receipt of the notification from the Controller or county superintendent of schools, the determination of the Controller or county superintendent of schools pursuant to this section shall be final. (b) If an appeal is filed with the California Board of Accountancy, the board shall complete an investigation of the appeal within 90 days of the filing date. On the basis of the investigation, the board may do either of the following: (1) Find that the determination of the Controller or county superintendent of schools should not be upheld and has no effect. (2) Schedule the appeal for a hearing, in which case, the final action on the appeal shall be completed by the board within one year from the date of filing the appeal. (c) If the determination of the Controller or county superintendent of schools under subdivision (a) becomes final, the certified public accountant or public accountant shall be ineligible to conduct audits under Section 41020 for a period of three years, or, in the event of an appeal, for any period, and subject to the conditions, that may be ordered by the California Board of Accountancy. Not later than the first day of March of each year, the Controller shall notify each school district and county office of education of those certified public accountants or public accountants determined to be ineligible under this section. School districts and county offices of education shall not use the audit services of a certified public accountant or public accountant ineligible under this section. (d) For the purposes of this section, "certified public accountant or public accountant" includes any person or firm entering into a contract to conduct an audit under Section 41020. (e) This section shall not preclude the California Board of Accountancy from taking any disciplinary action it deems appropriate under other provisions of law. 41020.6. On October 1, 2001, and each year thereafter, the State Department of Education shall report to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee on the actions taken by the department to eliminate audit exceptions and comply with management improvement recommendations. 41020.8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the auditor conducting the annual audit pursuant to Section 41020 shall, upon request, provide the county superintendent or the Superintendent of Public Instruction with fiscal information on a school district within his or her jurisdiction if the county superintendent of schools determines, pursuant to Section 42127.6, that a school district may not be able to meet its obligations of the current or subsequent fiscal year. Information provided by an auditor to a county superintendent or the Superintendent of Public Instruction pursuant to this section shall be submitted simultaneously to the named district and shall not constitute a violation of auditor-client confidentiality. 41021. The governing board of every school district shall require each employee of the district, whose duty it is to handle funds of the district, and may, in its discretion, require employees of the district, whose duty it is to handle property of the district, to be bonded under a suitable bond indemnifying the district against loss. Such bond may be a name schedule bond, schedule position bond or blanket bond, and shall be in such amount and type as the board shall consider necessary and desirable. The boards shall pay from the funds of the district the cost of the premium necessary to provide the bond. 41022. Except as provided in this section, any election held for the purpose permitting a school district to exceed the expenditure of school district funds fixed by the Constitution or by the statutes of the state shall be called, held, and conducted as nearly as possible as are elections for the issuance of school district bonds. The notice of election shall contain only the following: (a) The time and place or places of holding the election. (b) The names of the officers appointed to conduct the election. (c) The hours during the day in which the polls will be open. (d) The amount by which it is proposed to increase the expenditures of the district during the school year. (e) The total amount of proposed expenditures of the district, including the proposed increase, for the school year. The ballots used at the election shall contain the following language: "Shall the total authorized expenditures of the district be increased from ____ (naming the sum) to ____ (naming the sum) for the school year ____ (naming the school year) " The hours during which the polls at the election are open shall be fixed in accordance with Section 14212 of the Elections Code. 41023. (a) Any agency organized pursuant to Article 1 (commencing with Section 6500) of Chapter 5 of Division 7 of Title 1 of the Government Code, the parties of which consist solely of school districts and county offices of education, shall be subject to the same restrictions as are applicable to school districts and county offices of education, under that chapter, including the preparation of budget and financial statements required by Article 1 (commencing with Section 42100) and this article; the certifications required by Article 3 (commencing with Section 42130) of Chapter 6 of Part 24; the accounting and auditing requirements prescribed by Article 1 (commencing with Section 42100) and this article; and the expenditure and appropriation controls prescribed by Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 42600) of Part 24. This section does not apply to joint powers agreements that are for the performance of the powers described in Section 17567. (b) Each agency described in subdivision (a) shall annually report to their participating school districts and county superintendents of schools on forms prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
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