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SDLA Compliance Resource

Submit the Adopted LCAP Package to the Reviewing Authority

An operational guide to the submission handoff step in the 2026–27 LCAP accountability cycle.

  • LCAP
  • Submission handoff
  • 2026–27
Date(s)Within five calendar days after board adoption
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.

Reviewing-authority submission and Dashboard upload are distinct

A district’s county review, a COE’s own-plan state review, and a charter’s required submission follow different statutory pathways. EC 52065(c) adds Dashboard posting of the current plan after the applicable adoption/approval/submission state. Do not use this reviewer-submission task as proof of Dashboard upload. Upload guide and unresolved 2026 administrative window.

Targeted conflict review completed October 21, 2026. Earlier source stamps describe the earlier review scope.

In Plain Language: Transmit the complete, board-adopted LCAP package to the county superintendent or other applicable reviewing authority within the statutory window.

Why this matters

County review starts from the package actually received. Missing attachments, wrong versions, broken files, or an undocumented transmission can consume the clarification window and delay approval.

Primary ownership

Primary owner: LCAP lead/superintendent designee. Partners: board clerk, business services, records staff, IT, and county-review liaison.

From board adoption to a transmitted LCAP package: the SDLA ITO workflow

Files sent must be the board-adopted files, which makes the five-day clock the control. This SDLA ITO (Input, Transformation, Output) graphic shows how the recorded adoption date, the adopted package, and the submission checklist become the version record, the checklist, and the transmission receipt with a follow-up owner.

SDLA ITO: eleven steps from the recorded adoption date, the adopted package, and the submission checklist, through starting the clock, comparing files, final preparation, and transmission, to the version record, the checklist, and the transmission receipt with a follow-up owner.
Read down each column, then move to the next: Input identifies what to collect; Transformation covers starting the clock, comparing files, final preparation, and transmission; Output covers the version record, the checklist, and the transmission receipt with a follow-up owner. Transmit within five calendar days after board adoption.

Open the full-size workflow graphic

Operational workflow

  1. Start the five-day clock from the recorded adoption date.
  2. Compare every file with the board-adopted package and required submission checklist.
  3. Use accessible, clearly named final files and remove drafts.
  4. Transmit through the reviewing authority’s required channel and confirm receipt.
  5. Preserve the sent package, timestamp, receipt, and named follow-up owner.

Implementation pathway

Calendar
Reconcile
Review
Act
Retain

Evidence to retain

  • Adopted package checksum/version record
  • Submission checklist
  • Transmission timestamp and receipt
  • County contact and follow-up log
  • Any corrected resubmission and explanation

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.