April 17, 2020

Dear District Career Technical Education Directors and Coordinators:

2020–21 Secondary Perkins V Local Application Flexibility

Given the unprecedented challenges that each of you are facing in response to the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, on behalf of the State Superintendent and the California Department of Education (CDE), we commend you on the steps you have taken, and continue to take, to ensure the health and success of your students. The COVID-19 emergency has created a need for providing administrative flexibility to reduce barriers to complete the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act (Perkins V) Local Application (LA) and Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) for kindergarten through grade twelve (K–12) local eligible agencies (LEAs) and institutions (LEIs).

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide LEAs clarification, flexibility, and support to career technical education offices and staff in implementing and meeting the requirements of Perkins V.

On February 27, 2020 the CDE sent a notice inviting LEAs to submit a LA, including the CLNA, for 2020–21 Perkins V funds with a deadline of May 15, 2020. The CDE is no longer requiring the submission of the LA including the CLNA by May 15, 2020.

On March 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) used its transition authority under Section 4 of the Perkins V legislation to extend each local eligible agency’s one-year Transition Plan, covering Fiscal Year (FY) 2019–20 by three months. Given that FY 2019–20 runs from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020, the extension allows states to operate under their Transition Plan until September 30, 2020. The attached March 27, 2020 OCTAE letter provides information on extending the State Plan submission till September 15, 2020, and provides guidance regarding the conditions under which a substantially approvable LA could be submitted by LEAs and LEIs.

For States intending to avail themselves of this extension flexibility, OCTAE will issue the first installment of FY 2020–21 Perkins V funds, as previously scheduled, on July 1, 2020, on the condition that States submit their full Perkins V State Plan by September 15, 2020. The September 15, 2020 deadline will allow enough time for OCTAE to approve the State’s plan prior to making the State’s supplemental FY 2020–21 Perkins V award on October 1, 2020. California will continue to seamlessly administer Perkins V grants.

The California Workforce Pathways Joint Advisory Committee (CWPJAC) will meet on May 8, 2020 to review and approve a streamlined LA that will be used for the June 15, 2020 initial submission. In coming months, the CWPJAC will review and approve additional changes in order to further streamline the administrative requirements, to ensure accountability, and to mitigate administrative barriers that the COVID-19 pandemic has created not only for California but also across the nation. The CDE anticipates the CWPJAC to give more guidance on moving forward with the complete LA, including the CLNA, to be submitted to the CDE in the fall of 2020.

On behalf of the State Superintendent, we appreciate your commitment to more than one million secondary CTE students that we serve in California!

For further information, please contact Dr. Pradeep Kotamraju, Director of the Career and College Transition Division via email pkotamraju@cde.ca.gov [Email address no longer valid; please email Perkins@cde.ca.gov], or phone 916-322-6368.

Sincerely,

Khieem Jackson

Attachment: March 31, 2020 OCTAE Letter

cc:      Karen Stapf Walters, Executive Director, California State Board of Education;
Stephanie Gregson, Chief Deputy Superintendent, California Department of Education