Question: Can a charity organization place a money collection bucket in our school hallways? Are there any legalities that we should be aware of?

Response: A district is not prohibited from obliging a charity organization in the manner of your question; however, the district should seriously consider the following issues: If you say yes to one, you may have to say yes to all; how familiar are you with the organization; you will not be able to pick and choose those to whom you grant the privilege; the district may be subject to abuse by certain unethical organizations; what will happen in the event of theft of the contributions by students, staff, or community members? According to one legal counsel, the district may want to encourage support of organizations in another way, but allowing donations in the school corridors may not be feasible.

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Question: What are the legalities of justifying the money we can transfer from ABE to General Fund? How can we maximize?

Response: Education code section 52501.5 (a) specifically states that no revenue derived from adult ed average daily attendance shall be expended for other than adult ed purposes. Nor shall revenue derived from other ADA be expended for adult ed. The exception as identified in paragraph (b) is when the adult revenue limit is composed of ADA from both a regional occupational center or program and an adult ed program. In that case the revenue is allocated in a proportionate manner.

Expenditure guidelines are clearly defined in ed code section 52616.4 (a). Please refer to this section as it is somewhat lengthy. 52616.4 (b) states that if the Department of Education or department of Finance determine that revenues were improperly transferred, the penalty shall be double the amount and shall be transferred back to the Adult Ed fund.

The Legislature has clearly defined the level of accountability that school districts must adhere to and maintain.

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Question: We want to hire a 25 hour-per-week school bus driver. However, we do not want set hours (fixed hours) for this position. Some weeks the person would complete their hours in three days, other times in five days, sometimes do an evening athletic trip and other times a regular day route. Is it legal? Obviously we want to save money (overtime) and decrease disruptions on regular operations. Employee's schedule would be established a week ahead of time.

Response: The general practice is to guarantee the driver a specific number of hours per day. This is not quite the same concept as a guarantee of a specific number of hours per week as your question was directed. This schedule is determined and established with the driver at the time of hire.

Also consider the impact on employer paid health benefits. One office bases the prorated cost of benefits on the overall average hours per driver on a monthly basis. If you were not looking to exceed the number of hours per week your benefit ratio should not be a problem.

As with any personnel issue, please contact your legal counsel and human resources office to be sure you are not in conflict with a bargaining agreement or legal issue.

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Question: Problem of charging off "project generated" facilities to projects. If we're housing a resource teacher in a portable that costs us $4000 a year, can we charge it straight onto projects? Or are we limited by the square footage of the school site and then taking a fraction thereof of utilities and other site expenses?

Response: We contacted Maria Fong of the Department of Education, who directed us to the California School Accounting Manual, page 702-11. This section recognizes that lease and rental payments for facilities shall be distributed as direct support charges. In some cases you are able to use documented direct support costs in order to charge the expense to the special education program. Review this section of the accounting manual.

When the district makes an administrative decision to provide a separate classroom space it may not qualify for the documented direct support method. The key for the method is for costs of renting or leasing a facility required by state or federal agencies for programmatic purposes on a site where no agency-owned facilities are located. We do not believe your resource teacher classroom qualifies based on the information you have provided.

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Question: Do schools have specific rights of cabling and free service within cable company charters? I understand this may be a condition when time to renew charter. Do we have to approve charter before it can be approved? What code sections may we refer to?

Response: The first step in answering your question would be to contact the local cable providers or city or county government and get a copy of the current franchise agreement or charter which defines the scope of the services provided. The agreement may have current language on what type of educational or governmental assistance may be available. In most cases you must take the initiative to gain services.

Charters or franchise agreements are renewed on a three to five year basis. This is generally handled through the county.

In addition, there are cases where the Federal Communications Commission has mandated free service in certain areas. Have your legal counsel look into this issue.

This question has been answered based on video cable use. Please contact the help desk if your question was directed to audio or data cable concerns.

Ed Code sections relevant to your question include:

11300..................................Distance Learning Policy
51865..................................Distance Learning Policy
51870-51883.........................Ed Tech Act of 1992
10550-10555.........................Telecommunications

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Question: Can cafeteria funds be used to remove asbestos?

Response: The answer has two parts. Education code section 39900.5 attempts to clarify the type of expenditures that can be appropriately charged to the cafeteria fund of a school district. Paragraph (a) identifies those costs as set by the California School Accounting Manual or costs reported on the J 380.

If a district has a centralized food service facility and asbestos must be removed from that facility area, the cost of removal can be considered part of the housing expense which is a qualified expenditure. If the district does not have a centralized program than the cost would be a general fund expense.

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Question: If a district chooses to build a new school, what are the immanent domain procedures to be considered if the district wanted to usurp some property in the area where student growth is occurring?

3/20/96 Response: The process by which real property is condemned for public use is governed by statute, from the Code of Civil Procedure Section 1230.010. The legal authority to condemn for K-12 districts is contained in Ed. Code Section 35270.5

Any LEA interested in condemning property for public use should immediately contact legal counsel. This is a complex area of law with steps that must be followed strictly in order to be successful in site acquisition.

An article from The Schools Legal Service " School Business Manual" identifies steps to be taken. Many considerations are involved, including what type of land you are attempting to acquire, Board resolutions, offers, appraisals, and timelines.

Again, include your legal counsel in each step of immanent domain property acquisition.

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Question: Has the current federal reimbursement rate of .30 for mileage changed in 1996?

Response: The Internal Revenue Service has announced that the standard mileage rate will increase from 30 cents to 31 cents effective January 1, 1996. This is the rate at which employers can reimburse employees, tax free, for business use of their personal automobiles.

However, if the employee is reimbursed at a higher rate than 31 cents per mile, ONLY the excess should be included as income on the employee's Form W-2.

Mileage rates for each school district are set by their Board of Trustees. These rates can be more or less than the tax-free rate that the IRS has set.

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Question: What is the limitation on deferred maintenance critical hardship funding, how often can a district apply for critical hardship, what criteria does the state use to determine critical hardship eligibility?

Response: The question of filing a critical hardship application is one that has a ticking time clock. Applications for this purpose are due to the State Allocation Board by March 31, 1996.

Ed code 39619.5 allows for potential apportionment from SAB for critical hardship in an amount not exceeding 10% of total apportionment. At least one half of the amount set aside must go to districts with prior year ADA of less than 2,501.

Certain other criteria exists, such as:

1. The district has deposited 0.5% into the deferred maintenance fund.

2. A critical project in the five year plan that is not completed in one year would
result in serious damage to the remainder of the facility or a hazard to the health
and safety of students

3. District deposited funds are insufficient to complete the project.


If your district is considering filing for a critical hardship apportionment, contact the project manager in the Office of Public School Construction immediately. The telephone number is (916) 445-3635.

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Question: Does anyone know of a document which covers county offices, school districts, etc as public agencies with tax exemption status? I have a "Registration for Tax Free Transactions under Chapter 32 of the Internal Revenue Code" form filed in 1977 by the County Office (we have one Tax ID # for all the districts in the county) - is that the same thing?

Foundations have 501(c)3 status from the Feds - and Registry of Charitable Trust from the State. Do schools have something similar? Anyone? Several of my district business officials have asked for our "exemption" letter and I am trying to be responsive.

Response: County offices of education as well as all school districts are educational organizations and a governmental unit as referred to in Internal Revenue Code Sections 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) and (v). As such they qualify for tax exempt status for the purposes of charitable contributions as defined in the Internal Revenue Code Section 170(c)(1).

The Internal Revenue Code makes no provisions for the issuance of exemption letters to instrumentalities of a state or municipal government since Section 115 of the Code excludes their income from the definition of gross income.

If you need additional information you can contact L. Barragan, Internal Revenue Service, at 213-894-2336. The above information is not tax advice but a starting place for your investigation.

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Question: Are you aware of any county office / district that has put together a good set of instructions on how private organizations such as PTA's, Booster Clubs, employee groups, etc. can organize, and what IRS and Franchise Board regulations they must comply with? Any sources of information on this subject would be appreciated.

Response: There are several sources through the California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) library:

These references have been prepared by school district staff who have had success stories and want to pass them along. Contact the CASBO office in Sacramento @ (916)447-3738

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Question: Where in the Education Code is purchase of food from the general fund prohibited?

Response: We were unable to find an Ed. Code section prohibiting such purchase.



Question: Where does the Education Code talk about gift of public funds?

Response: The answer is not in the Ed Code; it is in Article 16, Section 6 of the California State Constitution.

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Question: Regarding ERAF: Often county offices have to realign ERAF taxes and money gets redistributed back to the districts. Is there or can there be legislation that would allow the redistribution not go back to the districts but help fund special ed billbacks or transportation shortfalls?

Response: There are currently two county offices of education, Marin and Mono, who have provisions for the distribution of excess revenue. SB 203, 10/4/95, provides that for 1995-96 the Marin county superintendent of schools is limited to $5,000,000 for special ed. It also states that Mono county is prohibited from this allocation.

There are currently two bills in committee. AB 2228, Mazzoni, which attempts to expand certain provisions to all counties beginning in 1996-97. AB 2797, Aguiar, attempts to limit the application of the requirement that ERAF money be allocated to county superintendent of schools for the funding of special education programs to the 1995-96 fiscal year.

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Question: I would appreciate your help with the following item: On Form O, juvenile hall and community court school is broken out. Do the revenues from juvenile hall and community court school have to be recorded separately or can they be commingled?

Response: The revenue from these two sources must be recorded separately. According to Jerald Saladana at the Department of Education, the separation is necessary because there is a cap on community school and not on juvenile court school.

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