42162. (a) By April 1, 2023, the Oakland Unified School District, in collaboration with and with the concurrence of the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools and the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, shall do all of the following:
(1) Update or develop short- and long-term financial plans based on reasonable and accurate assumptions and current and past year expenditure data.
(2) Review and update school district facilities construction plans to ensure that costs are reasonable, accurate, and align with long-term financial plans for fiscal solvency.
(3) Undergo an on-time annual independent audit pursuant to Section 41020 that is free of material weaknesses and that includes an unqualified opinion. Furthermore, the audit shall be free from any material internal control findings.
(b) In the 2023–24 fiscal year, the annual Budget Act shall include an appropriation for the Oakland Unified School District, if the school district complies with the terms specified in subdivisions (a) and (c), of up to 25 percent of the school district’s projected operating deficit, as determined by the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, with concurrence of the Department of Finance.
(c) Disbursement of funds specified in subdivision (b) shall be contingent on the Oakland Unified School District’s completion of activities specified in the prior year Budget Act to improve the school district’s fiscal solvency. These activities may include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Updated comprehensive operational reviews that compare the needs of the school district with similar school districts and provide data and recommendations regarding changes the school district can make to achieve fiscal sustainability, with progress updates on each of the recommendations.
(2) Adoption and implementation of necessary budgetary solutions.
(3) Completion and implementation of multiyear, fiscally solvent budgets and budget plans.
(4) Qualification for positive certification pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 42130) of Chapter 6.
(5) Sale or lease of surplus property.
(6) Growth and maintenance of budgetary reserves.
(7) Approval of school district budgets by the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools.
(8) Prompt appointment following a competitive process of a permanent, experienced, and highly qualified chief business official for any vacancy of chief business official.
(d) Funds described in subdivision (b) shall be allocated to Oakland Unified School District upon the certification of the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, with concurrence from the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools, to the Assembly Committee on Budget, Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, and the Department of Finance that the activities described in subdivision (c) have been completed. Additionally, by October 1, 2023, the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, with concurrence from the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools, shall report to the Assembly Committee on Budget, Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, and the Department of Finance the progress that Oakland Unified School District has made to complete the activities described in subdivision (c).
(e) The activities described in subdivision (c) shall be determined in the annual Budget Act based on joint recommendations from the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team and the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools. These recommendations shall be submitted to the Assembly Committee on Budget, Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, and the Department of Finance biannually by April 1 and by November 1 of the 2023–24 and 2024–25 fiscal years, in conjunction with the certification described in subdivision (d).
(f) Of the moneys apportioned to Oakland Unified School District pursuant to this section from an appropriation made for purposes of this section, the school district shall return to the state such moneys if subsequent to the annual apportionment it is determined that the school district did not meet the conditions established herein. The Director of the Department of Finance may initiate such return of prior apportionments if the conditions were not subsequently met and may rely on recommendations from the County Office Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team and the Alameda County Superintendent of Schools in making such determination.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 52, Sec. 36. (AB 181) Effective June 30, 2022.)