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SDLA Compliance Resource

County Superintendent Recommendations for LCAP Amendments

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

  • LCAP
  • County recommendation
  • 2026–27
Date(s)Within 15 calendar days after receiving the district response
Applies toCalifornia school districts and the reviewing authorities or partners responsible for this step; confirm charter and COE pathways separately

State county-review duties and local intake procedures

A county superintendent performs these statewide statutory duties for school-district LCAPs. A county-specific portal or earlier intake target is a separate local procedure.

  • EC 52070(a): the district files its adopted LCAP/annual update with the county superintendent no later than five days after adoption. The county may request written clarification by August 15; the district board responds in writing within fifteen days of the request.
  • The county may send written amendment recommendations within fifteen days after receiving the district response. The district board considers those recommendations in a public meeting within fifteen days of receipt. Retain actual delivery/receipt dates; these are triggered clocks, not identical fixed dates for every district.
  • The county superintendent approves by October 8 if the statutory template, budget, expenditure and applicable carryover/service conditions are met. Keep local board adoption distinct from reviewer approval and retain the approval/revision record.
  • Where the county superintendent has jurisdiction over a single district, the State Superintendent performs the EC 52070 duties. COE-own LCAP review and charter submission follow their own authorities; this district approval chain must not be generalized to them.
  • If a county requests an earlier upload, checklist or local format, record the county, notice, receiving system and local target separately from EC 52070. No statewide earlier intake date is established by a county worksheet.

Authority: EC 52070: district/county clocks and single-district exception. Reviewed October 21, 2026.

In Plain Language: After reviewing the district’s clarification response, the county superintendent may issue written recommendations for amendments within the next 15-calendar-day period.

Why this matters

Recommendations move the review from information gathering to proposed corrective action. Precision matters because the district must consider them publicly on another short clock.

Primary ownership

Primary owner: county superintendent/review team. Partners: county fiscal and program reviewers, legal counsel, district superintendent/LCAP lead, and records staff.

From the district response to written county recommendations: the SDLA ITO workflow

This county step is a bounded review that turns the district's response into specific, actionable recommendations. This SDLA ITO (Input, Transformation, Output) graphic shows how the district's response, the open issue matrix, and the county's program and fiscal review become the recommendation analysis, the final written recommendations, and proof of receipt.

SDLA ITO: eleven steps from the district's response, the open issue matrix, and the county's program and fiscal review, through calendaring, narrowing the open issues, drafting, and authority review, to the recommendation analysis, the final written recommendations, and proof of receipt.
Read down each column, then move to the next: Input identifies what to collect; Transformation covers calendaring, narrowing the open issues, drafting, and authority review; Output covers the recommendation analysis, the final written recommendations, and proof of receipt. Issue within 15 calendar days after receiving the district response.

Open the full-size workflow graphic

Operational workflow

  1. Confirm the district response receipt date and recommendation deadline.
  2. Resolve answered items and isolate remaining approval concerns.
  3. Draft specific, actionable recommendations with supporting analysis.
  4. Complete county program, fiscal, and authority review.
  5. Transmit in writing and preserve proof of district receipt.

Implementation pathway

Calendar
Reconcile
Review
Act
Retain

Evidence to retain

  • District response and receipt record
  • Updated issue matrix
  • Recommendation analysis and citations
  • Final written recommendations
  • Delivery and receipt evidence

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.