Ltr1-09: Federal Cash Management

August 28, 2009

Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

To comply with the federal cash management requirement to minimize the amount of time between receipt and expenditure of federal funds, the California Department of Education (CDE) is implementing a new web-based Federal Cash Management Data Collection (CMDC) system starting October 2009. The system will begin as a pilot project impacting only Title II, Part A, Improving Teacher Quality Program, under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB).

The CMDC system will collect quarterly the most current cash balance in the program, which in turn will determine a local educational agency’s (LEA) allocation. The allocation will equal the difference between the LEA’s cash balance and 25 percent of the LEA’s annual entitlement. A negative cash balance is appropriate for LEAs that have expended more resources than received, and the allocation formula will restore those funds in providing 25 percent of the annual entitlement. Please note that CDE will not apportion funds for a particular reporting quarter to LEAs that fail to submit the required data for that quarter. Apportionment for a particular fiscal year grant award will be paid after the allocations for any prior year grant award(s) have been fully paid, unless the authority to obligate those funds has expired.

LEA data is submitted through http://www2.cde.ca.gov/cashmanagement/default.aspx during scheduled quarterly data collection windows. Log on using your Personal Identification Number (PIN). The first data collection window will be October 9, 2009, to October 31, 2009. CDE will issue the PINs to county and district superintendents and direct funded charter school administrators via e-mail by September 21, 2009.

More information on the data collection system, including links to instructions, logon, and important reporting dates, is available at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/aa/cm/.

If you have any questions regarding the new CMDC system or Title II Part A fiscal questions, or if you do not receive your PIN by October 1, 2009, please contact Karen Almquist at 916-327-4406 [Note: the preceding contact information is no longer valid and has been replaced by Leslie Sharp at 916-323-4977.] or by e-mail at FederalCashManagement@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Scott Hannan, Director
School Fiscal Services Division
California Department of Education