Article 9Audits of Contracting Agencies

Section § 33420

Explanation

This law requires that independent audits are conducted on state and federal funds given to private agencies by the State Department of Education for educational services, like child nutrition and development. These audits, which need to be done by either departmental auditors or certified accountants, ensure funds are used correctly. If audits reveal significant issues, the State Department can reclaim and redistribute the misused funds. The Department must also set an audit schedule in line with federal rules but may exempt agencies if audit costs are too high compared to their funding.

(a)CA Education Code § 33420(a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction, in cooperation with the Department of Finance and the State Auditor, shall, on or before July 1, 1980, provide for a plan for independent audits of state and federal funds allocated to private agencies that are under contract with the State Department of Education for the provision of educational services.
For the purpose of this article, “educational services” includes, but is not limited to, child nutrition and child development services.
To the maximum extent possible, the plan shall conform to audit procedures pursuant to Section 41020.5.
(b)CA Education Code § 33420(b) Effective July 1, 1980, the State Department of Education, as a condition to any contract with a private agency for the provision of educational services, shall require a periodic audit of state and federal funds to be conducted by departmental staff auditors or a certified public accountant or public accountant who is licensed by the California Board of Accountancy. For child development services, the audit shall include all funds deposited in the child development fund. For all other educational services, the audit shall be limited to those state and federal funds accruing to the private agency as a result of its contract with the State Department of Education.
(c)CA Education Code § 33420(c) If in the course of those audits of a private agency, an audit exception is reported by the certified public accounting firm in excess of a material amount as determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall, upon final determination by the superintendent of the amount of the audit exception, collect that audit exception and redistribute the amount collected to the same class of program, or withhold the amount of the audit exception from the next payment to the agency in which the audit exception was discovered.
(d)CA Education Code § 33420(d) The State Department of Education shall establish a schedule for audits that meets federal regulations.
(e)CA Education Code § 33420(e) The State Department of Education may exempt from the provisions of this section those agencies for which, in the department’s estimation, the cost of an audit would be inordinate in relation to the level of funding received by the private agency for the educational services provided.
Superintendent of Public Instruction independent audits private agencies contract requirements child nutrition child development services audit procedures certified public accountant audit exception audit schedule federal regulations fund redistribution cost exemption State Department of Education California Board of Accountancy
(Amended by Stats. 2000, Ch. 1055, Sec. 12. Effective September 30, 2000.)

Section § 33421

Explanation

If a private agency gets state funding, it must be ready to show its program records to the Department of Education when asked. These records need to be kept for at least five years, except for Child Nutrition Program records, which follow federal rules. If there's an ongoing audit by a state agency or the USDA, the records need to be kept until the audit is finished.

Every private agency which receives state funds which may be audited pursuant to Section 33420 shall, at the request of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, make all records pertaining to its state-funded programs available to the Department of Education during regular business hours. The records shall be retained by each private agency for at least five years except for Child Nutrition Program records. Child Nutrition Program records shall be retained in accordance with regulations adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture relating to the retention of those records. However, in cases where an audit has been requested by a state agency or the United States Department of Agriculture which remains unresolved, the records shall be retained until the date the audit is resolved.
private agency funding state-funded programs Superintendent of Public Instruction Department of Education business hours access record retention five-year requirement Child Nutrition Program USDA regulations audit resolution unresolved audit
(Amended by Stats. 1989, Ch. 194, Sec. 1.)