Report 2016-109 Recommendation 17 Responses
Report 2016-109: Uniform Complaint Procedures: The California Department of Education's Inadequate Oversight Has Led to a Lack of Uniformity and Compliance in the Processing of Complaints and Appeals (Release Date: January 2017)
Recommendation #17 To: Los Angeles Unified School District
To ensure that it can defend its extensions of complaint investigations that are authorized by existing UCP regulations, Los Angeles Unified should obtain agreements from complainants before extending investigations beyond the required 60 days.
6-Month Agency Response
The District has conducted UCP investigations in required timelines; no extensions were warranted.
- Completion Date: January 2017
- Response Date: July 2017
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Fully Implemented
60-Day Agency Response
EECO instituted use of an electronic date calculator through its case management software ensuring accurate calculation of due dates within the 60 days. Further CSA acknowledged as evident in the audit report, EECO subsequent to a previous year's CDE Federal Program Monitoring audit already uses any resources available to complete investigations within the 60 days. As a result, the District has increased the number of cases concluded within the 60 days noted in the audit and has minimized the number of extensions requested. Nonetheless, the District agreed with the auditor's recommendation and in extenuating circumstances, the District will seek to obtain extensions if needed in a manner consistent with the law.
The District recently underwent a Federal Program Monitoring review with the CDE under both UCP and Educational Equity. The District was found compliant in these areas.
SEE CDE Federal Program Monitoring 2016-17 UCP Audit Review Instrument; See CDE FPM 2016-17 Notification of Findings.
- Completion Date: February 2017
- Response Date: February 2017
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending
Los Angeles Unified states that it will seek to obtain extensions if needed in a manner consistent with the law. However, it did not provide any documentation demonstrating that it did so for complaints that required such extensions subsequent to our report issued at the end of January 2017. Therefore, we have requested that Los Angeles Unified provide documentation with its six-month response demonstrating that it obtained agreements before extending investigations.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
All Recommendations in 2016-109
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.