2021-22 Assignment Monitoring Frequently Asked Questions

When will Assignment Monitoring start

Monitoring will officially begin on August 1, 2022. At this point, exceptions will be available within the system for 90 calendar days. Users representing local educational agencies (LEAs) will have 60 calendar days to review and determine exceptions, after which their initial review window will be closed. However, LEAs will still be able to work exceptions that have been returned to them from their monitoring authority until the end of the monitoring cycle. Monitoring authorities will have access to exceptions for the duration of the 90 calendar days. The Commission will finalize monitoring results on 11/1/2022 when the monitoring cycle officially closes. 

Like last cycle, CalSAAS will be open for an extended period before monitoring officially begins. This allows users the opportunity to review their exceptions over the summer if they choose.  We hope this schedule allows our partners in the field time to both adequately prepare for the coming school year and thoroughly monitor the assignments of the previous one.  

The date CalSAAS opens is currently TBD and dependent upon when CALPADS data are transited from the California Department of Education (CDE). We will provide updates via Assignment News once we receive data.

Please find an approximate timeline of the monitoring cycle below:

Census day October sixth, CTC revieves data from CDE in May, CalSAAS opens from June through July, Monitoring Officially begins on August first and ends on November first

How do the 60/90 day deadlines work in CalSAAS?

After monitoring begins, Local Education Agency (LEA) users have 60 days to address and give an initial determination on their exceptions.  At the end of the 60 day period, LEA users will no longer be able to initially determine exceptions.  However, they will be able to respond to exceptions returned from their monitoring authority (MA).

Monitoring authorities will be able to determine and review exceptions for the entirety of the 90 days. 

Districts that act as both an LEA for traditional schools and an MA for charter schools, will be limited to 60 days for traditional school exceptions and have the full 90 days to address their charter exceptions.

Note that CalSAAS allows Monitoring Authority (MA) users to return unworked and undetermined exceptions to LEAs after the 60 day period is over if they choose.  Doing so allows LEA users additional time to access unreviewed exceptions in their Returned tab on the exceptions screen.  The use of this feature is completely at the discretion of MA users.  LEA users will need to work with their MA users to determine if this option is available.  

What should a district authorized charter do if their monitoring district is not communicating with them?

They may contact the County Office of Education (COE) for the county they are geographically located in. The County can then contact the district, ensure they are aware of what their monitoring authority role entails, and facilitate communication between the two entities.

County Offices of Education can also take over monitoring duties if the district in question is in agreement with this arrangement. To do so, the County user needs to make themselves a new role as a District user in CalSAAS. While logged in under that role, they can make final determinations on charter schools.  Please make sure to do this, as not proceeding as such interferes with the final submission process.

When was Fall 2 census day?

Fall 2 Census day was October 6th, 2021.  Educators should have earned their credentials or be otherwise authorized by this date in order for the assignment to be considered appropriate.  If The educator was credentialed after, determine the exception as a corrected misassignment.  

When is the cutoff for exceptions to be determined as "corrected misassignments"?

Assignments that are not corrected by the end of the school year or the time CalSAAS opens should be considered misassignments. If assignments are corrected prior to whichever of those two instances occurs first, they can be considered corrected misassignments.

A tentative opening date for CalSAAS is not currently available because it is dependent on when the California Department of Education (CDE) provides the Commission with CALPADS data. We will provide updates through Assignment News alerts when we have more concrete information. 

Can Monitoring Authorities (MAs) impose their own monitoring timelines?

Monitoring is governed by Education Code §44258.9, which identifies “monitoring authorities” or MAs.  Though the monitoring process is orchestrated by the Commission, the actual monitoring of Local Education Agencies (LEAs) is under the purview of those MAs.  They are given broad discretion to conduct monitoring in a way that suits their local level needs.  Nothing precludes them from imposing their own monitoring timelines or deadlines, as long as those timelines do not exceed the what is provided in statute.  

A new school opened in my county/district prior to census date, but I do not see exceptions associated with the school listed in the editable screens of CalSAAS. How do I access these exceptions?

New schools or merged schools are not automatically added to a user’s workload assignments when a new monitoring cycle begins in CalSAAS. The monitoring authority (MA) is responsible to ensure that all schools within a user’s workload are appropriately assigned. This can be done by the MA user navigating to the Admin screen and selecting “Work Assignments”. The MA can add and remove schools from a user’s workload by clicking on the checkmark associated to the school’s name. Note, if the new school is in the user's scope but not assigned to the user’s workload, the exceptions associated to this school will be viewable only in the “All” exception screen.

Why are there no exceptions in CalSAAS for my LEA for 2021-22?

The following districts/schools did not certify their CALPADS reporting:

County  LEA
 Alameda Albany City Unified
 Alameda Bay Area Technology
 Alameda San Lorenzo Unified
 Calaveras Calaveras Unified
 Humboldt Loleta Union Elementary
 Lassen Lassen Union High
 Los Angeles Grace Hopper STEM Academy
 Los Angeles Montebello Unified
 Los Angeles Whittier City Elementary
 Mendocino Round Valley Unified
 Napa Howell Mountain Elementary
 Riverside Temecula Valley Charter
 Sacramento Arcohe Union Elementary
 Sacramento Robla Elementary
 Santa Barbara Los Olivos Elementary

 

The California Department of Education (CDE) does not transmit uncertified CALPADS data to the Commission.  Therefore, the Commission cannot generate exceptions for these Local Educational Agencies (LEAs).  Please contact CDE at calpads@cde.ca.gov if you have questions or concerns about the certification process or the consequences Local Educational Agencies face when they neglect to certify.  

We do not require additional paper monitoring of these LEAs but note that the absence of results will be noted on publicly available records including CDE’s School Accountability Report Card (SARC) and the Commission’s Assignment data dashboards. 

Updated May 03, 2022