Report 2021-101 Recommendation 12 Responses

Report 2021-101: K-12 Strong Workforce Program: State and Regional Administrative Shortcomings Limit the Program's Effectiveness in Supporting Grant Applicants (Release Date: February 2022)

Recommendation #12 To: Inland Empire/Desert Regional Consortium

To ensure consistency in scoring applications, the Inland Empire/Desert Regional Consortium should collaborate with the other regional consortia to establish a standard approach for addressing score variations that selection committees statewide will use, beginning with the fiscal year 2022-23 grant application period, when evaluating whether applications meet eligibility criteria.

6-Month Agency Response

The regional consortia chairs, along with input from the K14 technical assistance providers, developed a mutually agreed upon approach to address score variations. The methodology will be applied beginning with applications submitted during Round 5 (fall 2022).

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

60-Day Agency Response

In response to the auditor's recommendation, in February the regional consortia established a small workgroup comprised of K14 TAPs to review current practices used by K12 Selection Committees across the state and to draft a standardized approach for handling score variations. A first draft was presented on March 23, 2022 to solicit feedback from the regional chairs, K14 TAPs, and regional fiscal agents. On April 1, 2022 the K14 TAP presented the first draft to the Inland Empire/Desert Regional Consortium K12 Selection Committee for their input. It is anticipated that regions will reach consensus on the standard approach by June 2022. Collectively, the regional consortia will submit their recommended process to the CCCCO for inclusion in the 2022-23 grant RFA. The Inland Empire/Desert Regional Consortium K12 Selection Committee will consistently follow the process when evaluating whether applications meet eligibility criteria for 2022-23. Collectively, the regional chairs are the individuals responsible for establishing a statewide approach. The individual listed below (the IEDRC K14 TAP) will be responsible for communicating the process to our region's K12 Selection Committee members (once it is approved) and will ensure, in collaboration with the committee co-chairs, that the process is implemented consistently for applications submitted to the IEDRC in 2022-23.

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

We look forward to reviewing the results of the consortia's collaboration in the six-month response to this recommendation.

All Recommendations in 2021-101

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.