CAEP Consortium Fiscal Administration Declaration: 2022-23 71 Adult Education Pathways

iThe  Siskiyou Adult Education Consortium (SAEC) recognizes members and partners have multiple revenue streams that directly or indirectly support the Purpose and Plans of the SAEC. All SAEC members will provide each consortium member total amount the Maintenance of Effort (herein referred to as “MOE”), Apportionment, and Categorical Funding they are receiving to administer their programs.

ii. The SAEC recognizes that it will receive an annual allocation of funding from the California Adult Education Program (herein referred to as “Allocation”).

iii. The SAEC recognizes it is responsible for approving the amount of Allocation each SAEC member receives as required by legislation. The consortium will annually approve base funding to each SAEC member at the funding level of no less than the Allocationt funding provided by CAEP for the previous year. This annual approval is subject to funding provided by the State.

iv. The SAEC will strive to distribute the Allocation to SAEC members to address gaps in services to support all members in their efforts to achieve the consortium Purpose and Plans with a clear understanding by all members that the Allocation will be spent in accordance with the Plans.

v. The SAEC will complete a site and member evaluation that will determine member and site effectiveness. The member and site effectiveness will be a factor when approving annual allotment of the Allocation.

vi. The SAEC will be guided by CAEP quarterly target spending goals and if a member consistently fails to reach quarterly targets, a consortium vote will be had to determine the course of action of member’s remaining funds.

vii. Staffing and expense decisions will be made by the consortium and determined in the annual budget. The Consortium Director manages the regional shared budget once allocations and grants are approved by the consortium.

viii. Consortium members can reserve the right to change the financial agent through a unanimous vote by member institutions. The Consortium is governed by the financial operating principles, and related administrative policies and procedures of the fiscal agent.

ix. The fiscal year of SAEC will run from July 1 to June 30.

The Representative to the Board must be appointed and approved by the member institution’s governing board, which determines the Representative’s term of service. The Representative must be employed by the member institution while serving on the Board. The Board and Consortium Director must retain records of Representative approval by member governing board. The Representative is the designee of the member institution for all policy directives and Board votes. Representatives receive no compensation to serve on the Board.

Each of the organizations , will appoint a Representative (herein referred to as “Representative”) to serve as a voting participant on the SAEC Executive Board (herein referred to as “the Board”). Each SAEC member will have one Representative serving on the Board and all Representatives are expected to abide by the bylaws of the SAEC. Each member Representative is expected to know adult education and college systems, processes, and budgetary issues that could affect the consortium Purpose and Plans. The Board of the SAEC is responsible for overall policy and direction of the consortium. The Board votes on issues the SAEC members deem critical to achieving the Purpose of the SAEC. The Board must make all reasonable efforts to include member, partner, and public input and dialogue when deliberating and voting upon issues put before the Board.

All member representatives of the consortium shall be entitled to one (1) vote per member site. The member representative shall be the primary voting member, however he/she may appoint a designee to act on their behalf. Partners may receive voting status upon invitation and approval of the member sites. All County Offices of Education located within the region shall by default be designated as voting partners.

Voting membership term is open-ended, unless one or more of the following conditions occur:

● The voting member provides written notification of their resignation from the consortium.

● A majority of the voting membership terminates voting privileges for due cause.

● The voting member fails to attend at least 50% of the regularly scheduled meetings during a 12-month period.

A quorum shall consist of a simple majority of the approved voting members or their alternates. Any action of the consortium requires a majority vote of appointed voting members to pass. In the event of a tie, a second vote will be held. If the tie is not broken after the second vote, the action item is defeated as it did not receive majority vote.

When the Consortium model started in 2015, this was what the members at the time agreed upon. There has been no discussions of changing it since the inception. 

Meeting Agendas are sent out to members and posted on the website at least 72 hours prior to the meeting. 

The Board is responsible for providing minutes for all regularly scheduled or special Board meetings. The Board can employ Staff to complete minutes for each meeting and have Staff include these minutes in the following meeting’s agenda. Approved minutes will be posted on the SAEC website.

All SAEC Board meetings will occur once a month and will be open to the public. Notification of individual board meetings will be posted on the SAEC website and at each member site at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting.

The Board is responsible for providing the meeting Agenda 72 hours in advance of the meeting. While the Chair (if one is designated) is responsible for determining the Agenda with member input, the Chair can appoint the Director of SAEC to complete the physical production and website posting of the agenda. At Board meetings, the Board will receive reports on the activities of the consortium members in relation to the plans from Staff and members. An agenda item of "Public Comment" will be provided for public input.

The consortium has a recurring Agenda Item called, "Public Comment." The public is welcome to verbally submit their comments to the board during this time. A recurring note is listed on the agenda that states, "In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Siskiyou Adult Education Consortium will make available to the public who has a disability, any needed modification or accommodation in order for that person to participate in the public meeting. Contact the Siskiyou Adult Education Consortium Director at seller@siskiyoucoe.net at least one (1) week prior to the scheduled meeting." 

Other public entities may request to be placed on the agenda or make comments during the meeting in the Agenda item, "Public Comment." 

The consortium fiscal agent schedules distribution of site allocations on a monthly basis after receiving funds from the State. 

Members can voluntarily leave the consortium, but must provide written notice at least thirty (30) days in advance to the Director or Adult Education. The director will inform the consortium at next regularly scheduled consortium meeting. Any member that voluntarily chooses to leave the consortium must return its Allocation to the fiscal agent within 15 days of the effective date of date of leaving, or as  stipulated in Article IX, Section 1. The SAEC Executive Board (described in Article III) will determine how to redistribute the Allocation returned by the departing member.

The Board may reduce a member’s Allocation for the following reasons:

i. The member no longer wishes to provide services consistent with achieving the SAEC Purpose and the SAEC Plans

ii. The member cannot provide services that address the needs identified in the SAEC.

iii. The member has been consistently ineffective in providing services that address the needs identified in the SAEC Plans and reasonable interventions have not resulted in improvements.

The decision to add a new member requires a two thirds majority vote. The decision to remove a current member requires each Representative (as defined in Article III, Section 1) to obtain the acknowledgement and approval from the Superintendent/President of the member institution. Vote for approval to remove a member must be a two-thirds majority.

i. Sites shall make every effort to expend current year allocation funds within the same year (July 1 - June 30). However, should there be carryover funds from the previous year(s) greater than 15% of the total allocations within the current 3 year fiscal cycle (without proof encumbered funds) in December of each year, consortium members may vote to conduct an allocation amendment to move those carryover funds to another site.

Example: Site A receives $100,000 for Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 for a total of $300,000 during that funding cycle. If in December of Year 3, Site A has carryover of $45,000 or more, the Consortium may vote to reallocate those carryover funds to another site. The reallocation will not affect the site’s base annual allocation.

ii. If the Consortium has voted to move a site’s carryover funds for two consecutive years, the site may be deemed ineffective and a reduction in the annual allocated base amount of funds will occur with Ed Code : 84914(c) enforced: The member has been consistently ineffective in providing services that address the needs identified in the SAEC Plans and reasonable interventions have not resulted in improvements. At that time, member districts will vote on where the reduction of funds will go.

Listed in the Siskiyou Adult Education Consortium Bylaws Article I. Name, Purpose, Principles, and Funding, Section 5

i. At a minimum, CAEP member effectiveness is defined per the CAEP assurances listed (see attached list) and further defined/mandated by education code (84900 – 84920). Each CAEP consortium member agrees to follow the list of CAEP assurances when they certify their annual allocation via the Consortium Fiscal Administration Declaration (CFAD). By clicking "Approve" in the NOVA system, the member is confirming that they agree to all the CAEP assurances listed under sections labeled: Membership & Decision-Making, Public Meetings, and Reporting Requirements. This also includes members certifying to any additional consortium rules and procedures and, as agreed upon by the consortium members (such as any additional by-laws, charters, etc.).

ii. Consortium will abide by established appeal process and/or conflict resolution steps.

iii. Consortium must monitor member performance and identify members for non-compliance.

iv. If site is in non-compliance, Consortium will provide members technical assistance and/or reach out to the CAEP Technical Assistance Process (TAP) as part of the reasonable intervention (EC 84914(b)(1)(c))

v. If a consortium chooses to decrease the member’s funding, the consortium must document the reason, the technical assistance/reasonable intervention provided, and the public meeting minutes of how/when the decision was made. This documentation must be posted to the consortium’s Supporting 

Documentation section in NOVA.

Listed in The Siskiyou Adult Education Consortium Bylaws Article II. Section 5