001and we're going to switch gears and talk about shared services arrangements. So, thank you for those who have stayed on with us this afternoon. Now, you might want to begin by knowing what an SSA or shared services arrangement is. So, a shared services arrangement is essentially a an agreement between two or more entities, usually school districts, charters or ESC's to work together on a grant. And I believe I saw this question in the chat earlier as well. So, they may decide to work together for a number of reasons. This could be to get the most bang for their buck. They determine that they could maximize the use of their funds by working together. um some also don't want to carry out the administrative responsibilities of the grant. So many many reasons why folks make the
002decision to join an SSA. So SSAs SSA members must designate a fiscal agent who is responsible for managing the grant. So, they're responsible for making sure that grant requirements are carried out. And they also um have lots of administrative duties that they're responsible for and we're going to talk about some of those. Okay. So let's take a little bit of a deeper look at what what some of those administrative duties are. For the purposes of TEA grants, an SSA or shared services arrangement has one application and it is the responsibility of the fiscal agent to submit that application on behalf of its members. The fiscal agent is accountable for ensuring that grant funds are used in accordance with grant provisions. They're responsible for maintaining all SSA financial and personnel records required by TEA in accordance
003with financial account accounting and reporting. And they're responsible for managing the SSA in accordance with federal statute. And this one is the one that's the most interesting to me. Right. This one is the one that's the most interesting to me because it says the fiscal agent may also be responsible financially for instances of non-compliance or misappropriation of funds by any SSA member. So this to me almost sounds like I'm signing a loan for someone. So we want to make sure that we know what our responsibilities are when we join. I think I saw a question related to this as well in the chat, but when I went to look for it, it was gone. So, we're going to talk about it here. If you're in an SSA, a formal written agreement is required. And you
004will see language on the ADC applicant designation and certification form regarding this. So once your school district submits certifies and submits that ADC, that means you're you're certifying that you already have a written agreement. I wanted to point out that TEA does not review these agreements or we don't see um we don't receive copies of these agreements. So this is between the fiscal agent and their members. The agreement should define everyone's role. It's a legal agreement, right? So what are the responsibilities of the fiscal agent? What are the responsibilities of the members? Oops. I think I got a little bit ahead of myself. Yes. So what are the responsibilities of the fiscal agent and what are the responsibilities of the members? The agreement must be maintained on file by the fiscal agent in case um
005an auditor or monitor requested. All right, now we're on to the next slide. So the next couple of slides identify what the SSA agreement should include at minimum. It can always include more information. It should include how the SSA is organized, how it's structured, who owns any assets that are purchased through the SSA. It should address policies and procedures on how the assets are disposed of, if a member leaves, or if the entire SSA is dissolved. And we sometimes hear about this from time to time when things are not properly outlined in the agreement and it can get a little bit tricky. And I believe someone asked about this earlier as well. This agreement should also explain how what happens to carryover funds if a member leaves. So do the funds follow the member? Do
006they re remain with the SSA? So that should be outlined here. It should describe how liabilities including legal fees will be handled and how the costs are allocated by the SSA. What funds are going to be held by the fiscal agent? What is going to be purchased and what if any funds are passed on to the member districts. The agreement should outline the specific responsibilities of the fiscal agents and all members. What services are the fiscal agent going to provide to the members? What personnel are they dedicating to the project? It should also identify budgeting, accounting, and reporting responsibilities because again it's important that this information is clear. What are the responsibilities of the SSA members? What staff members are they allocating to the SSA? What are their responsibilities when it comes to budgeting, accounting,
007and reporting? Because they have responsibilities too, right? They have a responsibility to get the information to their fiscal agent in a timely manner. And any timelines or information related to that needs to be identified here. This table is a handy reference that identifies the responsibilities of fiscal agents versus me members. Remember, everyone has to complete an ADC, right? Because that is what controls the shared services arrangement as far as the application is concerned. But there's only one application and that is submitted by the fiscal agent. Everyone has responsibility related to use of funds, maintenance of financial and personnel records, and financial and programmatic compliance dependent upon what's outlined in that SSA agreement. And as for the agreement itself, the fiscal agent is the one who has the relationship with TEA, so they're responsible for maintaining
008that agreement. But everyone should have a copy. Everyone should have a copy. So now we're going to talk about how shared services arrangements are managed in grant applications. And you've heard this form talked about many, many times today. So shared services arrangements are managed through the ADC. And this form looks like a very simple form. It's actually not. It's really complex and I call it sorry I call it small but mighty because it controls a lot of stuff and SSAs are managed based on the designations that are selected in this form. So as mentioned earlier, fiscal agents must first designate themselves as the fiscal agent. And this is why we typically open the ADC for fiscal agents for ESSA first and then member districts join their SSA by selecting them. Um they're going to select
009apply as member and then they will select their fiscal agent from the drop- down menu. Now, if the fiscal agent is not in there yet, it means they haven't um completed their ADC. So, the member district should not just choose one. We've seen that happen. We've seen that happen quite a bit. And I believe it was mentioned earlier if you're choosing a district outside of your region, you normally get a warning message. So, pay attention to those warning messages. But if your fiscal agent is not in there, you'll need to contact them and let them know that you're trying to complete your ADC and you don't yet see them in the drop down. So, this form controls where Oops, sorry. This form controls where the funding goes, right? So if you are in region one
010and you choose a fiscal agent in region 16, what is that about 700 miles away? So you're you're tied together in that SSA. So may not be feasible for from a service standpoint. And we've seen this happen. We get notified um late into the grant period that there was an accident. As a matter of fact, I I was doing some research on an issue recently and I discovered a member district that was a part of an SSA that was maybe about 400 miles outside of their region and I nearly panicked, but I didn't. I said they may have a valid reason for this. So, the negotiator reached out to that school district and the the school district did in fact have a valid reason for being in that shared services arrangement. But you want to
011check this because this is where the SSA determines what fund sources appear on your application. It determines um where your money goes if you're in an SSA. So, if you're in region one and you choose 16, your money is in 16. Um, let's see. As fiscal agents, there is a for there's a report that allows you to see your SSA members. And I believe I have that on the next slide. Um, the last two things I wanted to point out are that certifying and admitting uh I mentioned this earlier, certifying and submitting the ADC means you have a written agreement. It's in that certification language. You are also certifying that your SSA will remain effective for the duration of the project period. So here we go. So this schedule, the BS60001, allows fiscal agents to
012determine who has joined their SSA. And we call this report the SSA member report. So if you're a fiscal agent, the these buttons will be active for you. You can click on the button and it will identify who is in your SSA as well as the allocation amount. And again, it's driven by the selections that are made on the ADC. And if someone is missing from your ADC report, then you need to contact them to submit their ADC and select you as as a fiscal agent. Um, these two buttons are it's just two different versions of the same report. One is in Excel and one is a crystal report. So, this information is available to you to check early on in the submission of the application and throughout um the life of this grant just
013to make sure that everyone's there who you expect to be there and that no one um accidentally selected you who's not supposed to be there. So, I'm going to turn it back over to Dee. Thank you, Tasha. Okay. Um, I'm going to go over the PS3109, the REP and funding transferability sections as it relates to a fiscal agent and what a fiscal agent would see for their members. So, if you are a fiscal agent, um, the REAP section will look just like like the one I went over this morning. The only difference is is you will see the same information for each individual member. So if you would um uh complete like part A under REAP for the one for each individual member if they are exercising REAP and the same goes for funding transferability.
014Uh so it will list every for every member. You would also address funding transferability. Um and this could be different for each individual member depending on um the agreement that you have with your member as to what you're going to do with the funding. Um, and then once you complete the schedule, this is what if you're doing a special like funding transferability, that will show um on your title one part a schedule, your title 2 part a schedule, and your title 4 part A schedule. It will also impact uh what is entered onto the PS3099 for private schools. And then the prior year data again will be the same. You will have uh under funding transferability and reap will populate uh the member information if there is carryover for either title 2 and or title
0154 on the BS61 budget schedule for the prior year. So it it would just uh depend on what is uh populated for carryover on the budget schedule and that usually happens in the spring. Um and that's when you will have to uh you as the fiscal agent would go into the PS3109 and adjust if needed the prior year data. Okay. Uh this is the SC3099 the PMP schedule. Um this is not part of the application. This is um this schedule is only available when a district applies as part of a shared service arrangement for all for all the programs um that they are eligible to apply for. And you can find the schedule under the special collections and you will see where the it'll say 2526 SC uh private school services and that opened in
016on May 20th and also due September the 3rd. then you'd follow the same instructions that are provided for PS3099. And then this schedule again is outside of the ESSA consolidated federal grant application. Amen. All right. So that concludes our training. Um thank you for attending again. Um we would appreciate if you could please provide us your feedback. Um there's a link in the chat or you can scan the QR code. Um thank you for all you do for the students and families you serve it uh every day. You truly do make a difference. And um we will be posting the the questions that were posed in this uh training um in the next two weeks and we will email um the link to everyone that registered and attended today's training. Thank you'all and have a
017great summer.