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SDLA Compliance Resource

County Superintendent Deadline to Request Written LCAP Clarification

An operational guide to the county review step in the 2026–27 LCAP accountability cycle.

  • LCAP
  • County review
  • 2026–27
Date(s)August 15, 2026
Applies toCalifornia school districts and the reviewing authorities or partners responsible for this step; confirm charter and COE pathways separately

In Plain Language: During statutory review, the county superintendent may send written clarification requests to the district by August 15; both sides need a controlled issue log and complete record.

Why this matters

A clarification request is not merely correspondence. It starts the next 15-calendar-day response clock and can expose alignment, calculation, or evidentiary gaps that affect approval.

Primary ownership

Primary owner: county LCAP review lead; district response owner is the superintendent/LCAP lead. Partners: county fiscal/program reviewers, district business services, board office, program owners, and counsel.

From submitted LCAP review to a written clarification request: the SDLA ITO workflow

Both sides need a controlled issue log and a complete record from this point. This SDLA ITO (Input, Transformation, Output) graphic shows how the submitted LCAP package and the county's program and fiscal review become the reviewer workpapers, the written request, and the issue log with deadline calculation.

SDLA ITO: eleven steps from the submitted LCAP package and the county's program and fiscal review, through framing each issue, sending the request, and recording receipt and the response deadline, to the reviewer workpapers, the written request, and the issue log with deadline calculation.
Read down each column, then move to the next: Input identifies what to collect; Transformation covers framing each issue, sending the request, and recording receipt and the response deadline; Output covers the reviewer workpapers, the written request, and the issue log with deadline calculation. Send by August 15, 2026 through a documented channel.

Open the full-size workflow graphic

Operational workflow

  1. Complete coordinated program/fiscal review of the submitted plan.
  2. Frame each unresolved issue as a specific written clarification request.
  3. Send by August 15 through a documented channel.
  4. Record district receipt and calculate the 15-calendar-day response deadline.
  5. Maintain an issue matrix through response, recommendation, and approval.

Implementation pathway

Calendar
Reconcile
Review
Act
Retain

Evidence to retain

  • Submitted LCAP package
  • Reviewer workpapers
  • Written clarification request
  • Delivery and receipt evidence
  • Issue log and deadline calculation

Official guidance and help

Source review completed August 30, 2026. Verify the current CDE template, instructions, statutory dates, reviewing-authority procedures, and local meeting calendar before acting.