CAEP
CFAD

Produced: May 2, 2024, 09:28 PM UTC - By Brittany Casey

62 South Orange County Regional Consortium (SOCRC)
CONSORTIUM APPROVED

2024-25

Fiscal Declaration - Consortium Approved

Consortium Name
62 South Orange County Regional Consortium (SOCRC)
Funding Channel
Direct Funded
Narrative
The South Orange County Regional Consortium voted at their General Membership Meeting held on Monday, April 29, 2024, to continue with the direct funding model for fiscal administration. In addition, the membership voted to distribute the COLA for 2024-25 by using a percentage to total allocation for each funded member. Per education code each funded member is receiving at least the baseline amount that was approved for the 2023-24 fiscal year. During the 2023-24 fiscal year, the General Membership spent a great deal of time determining a model to define and assess member effectiveness utilizing metrics from the Three-year Plan, the Annual Plan, Education Code and the consortium bylaws. One of the stipulations of the bylaws and measurements of member effectiveness is the completion and presentation of a quarterly fiscal update at the General Membership meeting that immediately precedes the certification of the quarterly expenditures in NOVA. Each member provides a report on expenditures to date with an explanation or action plan if the agency is not on track to meet the required threshold for excessive carryover, number of sections and types of programs offered through the agency, enrollment and retention numbers, number of employees working in adult education programs and the source of funding for those positions. Agencies are also encouraged to include highlights of program successes and anticipate future program needs based on enrollment growth or other student support needs.
Changes
No Changes

Member Allocations

Member Name (2024-25) (2023-24) (2022-23)
College and Career Advantage $509,266 $505,004 $461,665
Irvine Unified $620,183 $614,993 $562,183
Irvine Valley College $567,110 $562,364 $514,124
Laguna Beach Unified $135,963 $134,825 $123,341
Saddleback College $3,050,824 $3,025,293 $2,765,444
Tustin Unified $1,079,953 $1,070,916 $978,899
Total Allocated to Members $5,963,299 $5,913,395 $5,405,656
Total CAEP Funds $5,963,299 $5,918,322 $5,468,784
Total Remaining $0 $4,927 $63,128

Carryover Threshold

Input a percentage of carryover that your consortium agrees will be considered an excessive amount.

Should a member, or members, exceed this carryover percentage upon certification of their Q4 report, they will be flagged as non-compliant with the carryover legislation (EC 84914). One year of non-compliance does not carry a penalty. However, should the same member, or members, have two consecutive years of non-compliance the consortium may agree, by majority vote, to reallocate an amount that does not exceed the carryover to other members.

A consortium does have the ability to opt-out. To do so, simply toggle the carryover threshold button to the off position.

19%

Corrective Action Fiscal Reporting Quarterly Thresholds

If member carryover is over the threshold set below, a corrective action narrative will be required to complete.

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
% of Carryover Threshold

85%

65%

45%

19%

Consortia Report on Governance Compliance of Rules and Procedures v.2

1. Have all community college districts, school districts, county offices of education, or any joint powers authority, located within the boundaries of the adult education region been allowed to join the consortium as a member?

Yes

2. Have all members committed to reporting any funds available to that member for the purposes of education and workforce services for adults and the uses of those funds?

Yes

Voting representatives for each funded agency in the consortium will provide a quarterly fiscal report at the General Membership meeting prior to the certification of the agency quarterly expense reports submission to the State. The quarterly reports for funded agencies will include expenses to date, number of employees and the percent of funding contribution for each position derived from CAEP, other sources of funding for adult education programs, number and type of sections provided through adult education/community college non-credit programs, and the number of students enrolled in each section.  If an agency is below the threshold for quarterly expenditures, they will be required to provide an explanation for why, as well as a plan detailing how they will be on track by the next quarterly fiscal report. During the presentation, any voting member of the consortium or member of the pubic may ask questions regarding programs and expenditures.

Agency use of funds is considered during a self-evaluation process conducted after the submission of the quarter four fiscal reports. Agencies are evaluated based on their progress towards achieving goals and metrics established in the Three-year Plan, Annual Plan and the Consortium Bylaws. Self-assessments are presented at a General Membership Meeting in November. Self-assessments and Quarterly Fiscal Reports serve as guidance to determine member effectiveness and the need for technical assistance.

As stated in the consortium's bylaws in Article III- Membership, Section 3- Representation, each of the member organizations is represented in the Consortium General Membership by the official designated by their respective local governing boards or elected Superintendent. In addition, Article IV- Meetings, Section 6- Voting, which states that decisions shall be reached by a simple majority vote. Proxy voting shall be permitted, as long as documentation is provided that shows the person who is the representative proxy vote has been approved by the member organization’s governing board/superintendent and paperwork identifying the proxy representative is on file with the consortium at the time of the vote.

Should it be necessary for any of the consortium members to change the agency representative or proxy, the agency must submit paperwork indicating that the governing board /Superintendent has taken action to appoint a new voting member or proxy to the Executive Committee. Paperwork must be submitted to the Executive Committee prior to the new agency representative or proxy voting on any action items of the consortium. 

A check of paperwork for agency representatives takes place whenever there is a change of representation and/or in the month of January to begin the new calendar year.

The bylaws adopted by the consortium in January 2024 contain member participation as a measure of member effectiveness (Article V- Member Effectiveness, Section 2- Member Effectiveness Criteria). Specifically, all members must maintain regular attendance and participation at monthly Consortium General Membership meetings, Failure to do so could place that member(s) into technical assistance. 

All members are notified of the meeting dates, times and location for the calendar year in January. They again receive notice of the meeting and materials for review at least 72 hours in advance of the meetings. If a member fails to come to the General Membership Meetings for two consecutive meeting dates, the Executive Committee will reach out to the member to remind them of their obligations to the consortium and inform them of the next meeting date.

6. What will be the relative voting power of each member?

1 member = 1 vote

7. How will decisions be approved?

by majority vote of 51%

The SOCRC members used the consensus model for decision making during the 2014/15 planning process under the previous AB86 grant for Adult Education programs to plan the transition to consortium-based governance and programming. In addition, for the past three years, SOCRC members have conducted an annual review of their bylaws, which include provisions for decision making and participating in the voting process, as indicated in question 4 above. 

The SOCRC will continue the practice of properly noticing meetings that include business and governance of the consortium per the Brown Act standard of 72 hours notice prior to the start of the meeting. Notice will include an itemized agenda that clearly identifies which items are for discussion (no voting), action (voting), regular business, or agency reports. Where appropriate, particularly for action items, a description of the decision to be made, plus any supporting documentation such as budgets or reports shall also be attached to the agenda. Agendas will be posted on the SOCRC website, as well as the location where the public meeting will be held.

Each agenda will describe the process used for public comment and allocate time at the beginning of the agenda to bring forward areas of interest or concern to the public that are not included in any of the posted agenda items. If the public wishes to comment on items on the agenda, time will be designated after the members have had a discussion and before a vote or decision is made. If the public is commenting on a discussion item, those comments will be included in the minutes of the meeting and can be referred to during future meetings where a decision will be made, but consortium members cannot vote or make decisions on items that have been identified as discussion only.

All comments made by the public during publicly advertised meetings shall be entered into the formal minutes of the meeting, which are approved at a subsequent General Membership meeting. Minutes will also be archived on the SOCRC website under the governance tab to ensure availability to the public at any time.

During the initial AB86 planning process, the SOCRC cultivated a list of interested parties and community partners into an email group. The consortium has sent the agendas to this group in accordance with Brown Act notice and reporting requirements. Since 2015, consortium members have cultivated new partnerships and some entities who were initially interested in adult education programs have closed or their focus has changed.

To more accurately reflect current partners, education providers, and workforce service agencies, staff at member agencies will review and update the list of public or governmental entities, community-based organizations. workforce development partners, and internal departments who may have an interest in the business of the SOCRC. Meeting notices and agendas will be sent to the agency or organization representatives to encourage community participation.

The SOCRC went through an extensive three-month process of reviewing, updating and approving bylaws for the consortium in the 2020/21 program year. Because the consortium changed fiscal administration models in May 2021 ahead of the 2021/22 program year, a great deal of time was spent on how the consortium would handle fiscal decisions, and in particular the distribution or allocation of funding for the 2021/22 program year and beyond. This process is written into the consortium's bylaws and includes a provision that the distribution schedule will be approved at the April meeting prior to the submission of the CFAD.


14. Has the consortium A) designated a member to serve as the fund administrator to receive and distribute funds from the program or B) chosen to have a funds flow directly to the member districts based upon the approved distribution schedule?

B) chosen to have funds flow directly to the member districts based upon the approved distribution schedule

Because all of the educational agencies that are qualified to join the consortium are currently members, there is no need to establish a method to join SOCRC as a voting member.  There is a clause in Article 3, section 5 that allows members of the consortium to invite community, business or government agencies to attend the meetings as non-voting partners. 

During the lengthy review and revision of the SOCRC bylaws in 2023, which were adopted in January 2024, the members established methods to leave or be dismissed from the consortium. Article 3 (Membership), Section 4 (Relinquishing Membership in SOCRC) outlines a five-step process to terminate membership in the South Orange County Regional Consortium. This includes evidence that the elected officials for the agency have discussed and voted upon the termination and have indicated that they no longer want to participate as a voting member in the consortium.

SOCRC members also established a process to remove members from the consortium if it is determined that they are not meeting member effectiveness standards and they have gone through a period of technical assistance with the consortium that has not resulted in the remediation of areas that are not in compliance. This process is outlined in Article V (Member Effectiveness), Section 4 (Member Non-Performance)

The Executive Committee may recommend that a member be removed as a service provider for non-performance of duties after the member has gone through at least eighteen (18) months of technical assistance without remediation in the deficient areas. A decision to remove a member for non-performance requires a two-thirds vote (7 out of the 10 members).

The Executive Committee will send notification of potential action to the agency representative and governing board/Superintendent outlining the actions taken by SOCRC technical assistance, areas of non-compliance, and the date of the Consortium General Membership meeting at which the removal of the member from service provision will be addressed.

The defined excessive member carryover percentage threshold is 19.9 percent.  It is listed at 19 percent above because the system will not allow less than whole numbers. The excessive carryover limit is defined in the SOCRC bylaws in Article V (Member Effectiveness), Section 2 (Member Effectiveness Criteria).  Member effectiveness shall be defined as:

All members:

1. Regular attendance and participation at monthly Consortium General Membership meetings

2. Participation in and contribution to the development of the Annual and Three-Year plans    

3. Timely submission and approval of all CAEP and SOCRC deliverables per CAEP published calendar and SOCRC approved meetings and timelines document    

Funded members:

4. Meeting the student success goals as defined by the consortium in the Annual and Three-Year plans

5. Financial expenditures aligned to Annual and Three-Year plan goals and CAEP guidelines    

6. Funds expended in a timely manner in accordance with AB 1491    

7. Member carryover shall not exceed 19.9%. Any portion of the member’s carryover that exceeds 19.9% shall be deemed excessive carryover.

SOCRC members will present their Quarterly Fiscal Report four times each year at the meeting prior to the certification of each Quarterly Expenditure Report in NOVA. This is outlined in Article VIII (Funding), Section 5 (Funded Member Responsibilities):  Service-providing members who receive CAEP funding will be required to report on their expenditures and carryover on a quarterly basis when expense reports are due to the State.  Funded members must report on program expenditures, course sections and enrollment, staffing levels, and student success measures on an annual basis.

If a member has excessive carryover funds, they must present a plan to spend the funds in the subsequent six months (usually on a capital expenditure or specific training/workshop for faculty and staff members that the agency has been saving for). The agency can also volunteer to share the funds with other consortium members by using the one-time funding process outlined in Article VIII (Funding), Section 4 (Request for One-time Funding).  

SOCRC bylaws contain and entire article on member effectiveness. In addition to the definition of consortium effectiveness included in AB 1491, the consortium further defined member effectiveness including provisions for funded and non-funded agencies to ensure the participation of all members in the consortium. Article V (Member Effectiveness), Section 2 (Member Effectiveness Criteria) states that member effectiveness shall be defined as:

All members:

1. Regular attendance and participation at monthly Consortium General Membership meetings

2. Participation in and contribution to the development of the Annual and Three-Year plans    

3. Timely submission and approval of all CAEP and SOCRC deliverables per CAEP published calendar and SOCRC approved meetings and timelines document    

Funded members:

4. Meeting the student success goals as defined by the consortium in the Annual and Three-Year plans

5. Financial expenditures aligned to Annual and Three-Year plan goals and CAEP guidelines    

6. Funds expended in a timely manner in accordance with AB 1491    

7. Member carryover shall not exceed 19.9%. Any portion of the member’s carryover that exceeds 19.9% shall be deemed excessive carryover.

Article V: Member Effectiveness also outlines the steps for technical assistance in case any of the members do not meet the member effectiveness criteria in any given year. If members are unable to meet at least one of the criteria of member effectiveness, they may need the support and mentoring of the Executive Committee and/or other members of the consortium to come back into and remain in compliance with consortium and State requirements for California Adult Education Program funding. Members who are out of compliance with the member effectiveness standards may be subject to technical assistance through SOCRC and placed into monitoring for a period of at least twelve months or until area(s) of deficiency have been remediated.

As defined in Section 3, Technical Assistance may include but is not limited to any of the following steps and supports:

1. Notice sent to agency representative and Superintendent outlining area(s) of non-compliance

2. Measures necessary to regain compliance with SOCRC and CAEP regulations

3. Regular monitoring of member effectiveness areas that are out of compliance and were included in the notice to the Superintendent.

4. Develop and implement an Excessive Carryover Reduction Plan to meet member and consortium excessive carryover limits.

5. If a member who is in technical assistance is unable to meet the obligations of SOCRC and CAEP funding requirements after a twelve-month monitoring period, additional actions may be taken including the following:

6. Extension of technical assistance monitoring period for an additional twelve months or until agency remediates areas of deficiency

7. Reduction in funding not to exceed the amount of excessive carryover from the prior fiscal year

8. Removal from being a service provider

20. Does the consortium have a formal document detailing its work beyond the questionnaire?

Yes

Need to place link to bylaws on the consortium's website here.

Member Agencies

Member AgencyMember TypeContactPhone
Capistrano UnifiedUnified School DistrictBrittany Casey(949) 489-7216
Irvine UnifiedUnified School DistrictDr. Rebecca Roberts(949) 936-7405
Irvine Valley CollegeCollegeDebbie Vanschoelandt(949) 367-8310
Laguna Beach UnifiedUnified School DistrictDr. Chad Mabery(949) 497-7700
Saddleback CollegeCollegeDr. Karima Feldhus(949) 582-4326
Saddleback Valley UnifiedUnified School DistrictKim Thomason(949) 580-3441
South Orange County CCDDistrictRoxanne Metz
Tustin UnifiedUnified School DistrictChristine Matos(714) 730-7395
Coastline ROPRegional Occupation Center/Program (ROC/P)Dr. Brian Dozer(949) 429-2222
College and Career AdvantageRegional Occupation Center/Program (ROC/P)Dr Paul Weir(949) 234-9476
Orange County Department of EducationCounty Office of Education (COE)Fatinah Judeh(714) 349-3073

Certification & Assurances

By clicking "Approve" on the approval cards below, you are certifying the CFAD as well as confirming that you and ALL consortium members agree to the Assurances listed below.

Assurances

Membership & Decision-Making
  • I certify that any community college district, school district, or county office of education, or any joint powers authority consisting of community college districts, school districts, county offices of education, or a combination of these, located within the boundaries of the adult education region shall be permitted to join the consortium as a member (EC 84905 (a)(b). (See Membership Box above).
  • I certify that only members as described above (and in EC 84905) are allowed to join my consortium as members and participate in decision making and approvals whether in a public meeting, or via the NOVA planning, budgeting & expense reporting system.
  • I certify that as a condition of joining a consortium, as a member, I shall commit to reporting any funds (as described in EC 84916) available to that member for the purposes of education and workforce services for adults and the uses of those funds through the annual Program Area exercise in NOVA for reporting leveraged funds, and instructional hours.
  • I certify that as a member of the consortium my district shall be represented only by an official designated by the governing board of the member (EC 84905 (c)).
  • I certify that as a member of the consortium, I shall participate in any decision made by the consortium (EC 84905 (d)(1)(A)).
  • I certify that all decision made by the consortium and its members is final (EC 84905 (d)(1)(F)).
  • I certify that I will adhere to the consortium rules and procedures and, as agreed upon by the consortium members, to any additional by-laws, charters, etc.
Public Meetings
  • I certify that a proposed decision is considered at an open, properly noticed public meeting of the consortium at which members of the public may comment (EC 84905 (d)(1)(B)).
  • I certify that the consortium has provided the public with adequate notice of a proposed decision and considered any comments submitted by members of the public, and any comments submitted by members of the public have been distributed publicly (EC 84905 (d)(1)(C)).
  • I certify that the consortium has requested comments regarding a proposed decision from other entities located in the adult education region that provide education and workforce services for adults (EC 84905 (d)(1)(D)(i)).
  • I certify that the consortium has requested comments regarding a proposed decision from other entities located in the adult education region that provide education and workforce services for adults (EC 84905 (d)(1)(D)(i)).
  • I certify that the consortium has considered input provided by pupils, teachers employed by local educational agencies, community college faculty, principals, administrators, classified staff, and the local bargaining units of the school districts and community college districts before it makes a decision (EC 84905 (d)(1)(E)).
  • I certify that in addition to the meeting requirements listed in EC 84905, and as agreed upon by the consortium members, that I will follow the public meeting requirements listed in the Ralph M. Brown Act as the Brown Act applies to the governing body of any “local body created by state or federal statute.” (Ed. Code, section 54952.)
Reporting Requirements
  • I certify that I will participate in completing and updating any consortium long range and/or short range planning efforts and/or budget work plans (EC 84906, 84914(a)).
  • I certify that all CAEP expenses have been expended in the CAEP seven program areas, and services provided are consistent with the 3-year plan, the annual plan, and my district’s work plan & budget as submitted in NOVA (EC 84913 (1-7), 84906, 8914(a)).
  • I certify that my expenditures of CAEP funds match the objectives/activities included in the annual plan and the member work plan (EC 84906, 84914(a)).
  • I certify that my expenditures of CAEP funds adhere to the allowable uses of funds as identified in the CAEP Fiscal Management Guide.
  • I certify that I will report student level enrollment data and outcomes as prescribed by the State CAEP Office (EC 84920).
  • I certify that I will share financial expenditure and progress reports with the members of my regional consortium.
  • I certify that I understand that as a member if I do not meet any of these items I have certified, I will be deemed an ineffective member which may result in a loss or reduction of CAEP funding (EC 84914(b)).
  • I certify that all CAEP expenses have been expended only for the education of persons 18 years of age or older (EC 84901(a)).

Capistrano Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Brittany Casey

05/02/2024 02:28 PM PDT

Coastline ROP - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Brian Dozer

04/29/2024 03:58 PM PDT

College and Career Advantage - Member Representative

Approved by Dr Paul Weir

05/02/2024 01:37 PM PDT

Irvine Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Rebecca Roberts

04/29/2024 02:20 PM PDT

Irvine Valley College - Member Representative

  • Dean, Career & Continuing Education, and Integrated Design, Engineering and Automation
  • dvanschoelandt@ivc.edu
  • (949) 367-8310
Approved by Debbie Vanschoelandt

04/30/2024 11:26 AM PDT

Laguna Beach Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Chad Mabery

04/29/2024 05:11 PM PDT

Orange County Department of Education - Member Representative

Approved by Fatinah Judeh

04/29/2024 02:19 PM PDT

Saddleback College - Member Representative

Approved by Dr. Karima Feldhus

04/29/2024 02:19 PM PDT

Saddleback Valley Unified - Member Representative

Approved by Kim Thomason

04/30/2024 10:43 AM PDT

Tustin Unified - Member Representative

Approved by William Neddersen

05/02/2024 01:05 PM PDT