How To File A Waiver:
If your district or county office of education has received an audit penalty for failing to maintain the instructional minutes or days as required by EC 46200 et seq., review the following procedures and contact the California Department of Education (CDE) Waiver Office at (916) 319-0824.
To file a waiver request use the Specific Waiver Request Form:
Waiver of Audit Penalties District/COE (22-Apr-08; DOC; 84KB; 2pp.)
NOTE: The State Board of Education (SBE) requires that the make-up time for the waiver be applied to the grade level of the affected students, as well as the grade level(s) where the shortage occurred.
Required Attachments:
- Copy of the audit finding and local educational agency response.
- At least two years worth of proposed bell schedule(s) and school calendar(s) for the required make-up of time, showing all full and partial instructional days, student free days, etc.
- Summary of instructional minute totals, daily and annually, including the state minimum by grade(s) and the 1982-83 requirements for the district/school for the two years of waiver make-up.
The waiver authority is EC Section 46206 which contains statutory conditions that must be met to get the waiver:
For fiscal penalties incurred as a result of a shortfall on instructional time in the 2000-01 fiscal year or thereafter, a waiver may only be granted pursuant to subdivision (a) upon the condition that the school or schools in which the minutes, days, or both, were lost, maintain minutes and days of instruction equal to those lost and in addition to the amount otherwise prescribed in this article for twice the number of years that it failed to maintain the prescribed minimum length of time for the instructional school year, minimum number of instructional days for the school year following the year, or both, commencing not later than the school year following the year in which the waiver was granted and continuing for each succeeding school year until the condition is satisfied. Compliance with the condition shall be specifically verified in the report of the annual audit of the school district or county office of education for each year in which the additional time is to be maintained. If an audit report for a year in which the additional time is to be maintained does not verify that the time was provided, that finding shall be addressed as set forth in Section 41344.
As noted in the last sentence (above) your annual audit will include specific verification of the minutes required by the waiver conditions. Failure to meet wavier conditions in future years will trigger payment of the fiscal penalties.
The charts below clarify the EC sections being waived depending on the type of penalty (for school districts or county offices of education participating in the Longer Instructional Day and Year Incentive Program funding per EC sections 46200.5, 46201, 46201.1, 46201.5, and 46202):
For LEAs (districts or COEs) participating in the Longer Instructional Year Incentive Program (EC 46200(a) or EC 46200.5(a)) and falls below 180 days or 163 days for multi track year-around schools:
Fiscal Year |
Noncompliance |
Penalty |
Waiver Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-02 and after | Offered less than the required number of days. | Grade level ADA times R.L.* times one deficit(s) equals apportionment. Number of days short divided by the number of days required equals percentage. Apportionment times percentage equals penalty amount. | SBE condition for approval of waiver: Maintain required number of days plus missed number of days for twice the number of years. |
For LEAs participating in the Longer Instructional Day Incentive Program (EC 46201 and EC 46201.5), and falls below the minimum number of minutes required:
| Fiscal Year | Noncompliance | Penalty EC 46201(d) or EC 46201.5(c) |
Waiver Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000-01 | Minimum instructional time requirements not offered: |
Grade level ADA times R.L.* times the deficit(s) equals apportionment. Number of minutes short divided by number of minutes required equals percentage. Apportionment times percentage equals penalty amount. | SBE condition for approval of waiver: Maintain required number of minutes plus missed number of minutes for twice the number of years. |
For LEAs participating in the Longer Instructional Year Incentive Program, the LEAs must maintain their 1982-83 base level minutes per EC 46202:
| Fiscal Year | Noncompliance | Penalty EC 46202(b) |
Waiver Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001-01 and after | District/COE falls below the number of minutes that it offered in 1982-83. |
Grade level ADA times R.L.* times the deficit(s) equals apportionment. Number of minutes short divided by number of minutes offered in 1982-83 equals percentage. Apportionment times percentage equals penalty amount. | SBE condition for approval: Maintain required number of minutes plus missed number of minutes for twice the number of years. |
*R.L. stands for revenue limit
Additional Documents Required to be Attached to the Waiver Request:
- Copy of the audit finding and the Schedule of Instructional Time from the audit report.
- Copy of local educational agency response to the audit finding.
