Report 2012-044 Recommendation 16 Responses

Report 2012-044: California Department of Education: Despite Some Improvements, Oversight of the Migrant Education Program Remains Inadequate (Release Date: February 2013)

Recommendation #16 To: Education, Department of

To ensure that the state parent council complies with the requirement that two-thirds of its membership consist of parents of migrant children, Education should accurately and continually update its member directory and inform the regional parent councils regularly about the current composition of the state parent council.

1-Year Agency Response

Education verified State Parent Advisory Council (SPAC) membership eligibility and compliance in December 2013; all identified ineligible members were replaced with new representatives. In addition, Educations new database system includes a warning feature for Certificate of Eligibility (COE) expiration and member ineligibility. Education is also developing a database system to keep the member directory updated and monitor the composition of the state parent council.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

6-Month Agency Response

SPAC membership eligibility and compliance is being verified and will be updated continually. Education is in the final stages of database development and completion to improve the efficiency and accuracy of the verification and review process and to ensure compliance of the two-thirds migrant parent membership requirement. The transition to this data-driven process is expected to take effect in or before September 2013.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

Education ensures compliance with the two-thirds migrant parent requirement by checking the members' certificates of eligibility. Where member eligibility is questionable, Education contacts the regional director for verification. Education conducts these three times per year: April, August, and December. Additionally, Education has developed regulations which address the two-thirds requirement to ensure State Parent Advisory Council's (SPAC's) future compliance. The proposed regulations are under review and are expected to be completed and implemented by January 2014.

Education is also designing a new data system for gathering and retrieving member information. This new data system will: (1) maintain both current and former member information; (2) prompt for expiration of certificates of eligibility; (3) disallow the entry of more than one-third non-migrant parent membership (or require special permissions); (4) allow querying of specific member information; and (5) run reports and data in spreadsheet and chart formats. This data storage and retrieval process will improve the efficiency and accuracy of the review process to ensure it complies with the two-thirds requirement. This process is currently being managed using a paper-based color-coding system and will transition to a data-driven process upon database completion.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2012-044

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.