Prop 28 Planning Checklist: What to Have in Place Before the School Year Starts
A practical, California-specific checklist for superintendents, CBOs, and site administrators everything to confirm, document, and put in place before the first bell rings.
SPEND WINDOW
3 Years
Each annual allocation must be spent within 3 years or it reverts to the CDE.
STAFFING RULE
80 / 20 / 1
80% staffing, up to 20% training & partnerships, 1% admin cap.
ANNUAL REPORT
Due each fall
Board-approved certification and expenditure report submitted via the AMS Portal.
Why Pre-Year Planning Matters
Most Prop 28 compliance problems don’t start mid-year, they start in August, when staffing, budgeting, and documentation decisions get made under time pressure. Districts that walk into the school year with these six areas already confirmed spend less time firefighting later and more time actually running programs.
Funding & Budget Information
Before anything else, confirm what you actually have to work with and what’s already committed from prior years.
Confirm this year’s allocation amount
Verify your district or site’s Prop 28 allocation against CDE’s published per-pupil rates (base rate + FRPM-eligible supplement).
Reconcile prior-year unspent balances
Identify any rollover funds still inside their 3-year spend window and flag amounts approaching expiration.
Document your 2022–23 baseline
Confirm your baseline-year arts spending is documented this is what proves Prop 28 funds are supplementing, not replacing, existing programs.
Draft or refresh the site-level budget
Build a working budget split across the 80% staffing / 20% partnerships & supplies / 1% admin categories.
Staffing & The 80% Rule
Staffing is where most districts run into trouble, start recruiting before the school year, not during it.
Post arts positions early
Begin recruitment for certificated or classified arts staff well before the year starts — timelines are the main evidence needed for a waiver later, if one becomes necessary.
Review CTC alternative pathways
If credentialed hires are hard to find, know which Commission on Teacher Credentialing options apply: Short-Term Staff Permits, Provisional Internship Permits, Intern Credentials, and Variable Term Waivers.
Decide early if a waiver may be needed
If it looks like you won’t hit 80% staffing, start your good-cause documentation now rather than after the shortfall is already underway.
Plan supervision models for vendor-delivered instruction
Instruction during the school day that counts toward ADA needs immediate supervision by a certificated LEA employee, plan co-teaching or push-in models accordingly.
Program Design & Standards Alignment
Funding without a program plan is how districts end up with unspent balances at year-end.
Run a site-level needs assessment
Identify which grade levels and school sites currently have the least arts access — Prop 28 is designed to close those gaps first.
Align curriculum to VAPA standards
Whatever’s delivered in-school or after-school, should map to California’s Visual & Performing Arts standards.
Decide in-school vs. after-school delivery
Confirm which model(s) each site will use, since supervision, scheduling, and ADA rules differ between them.
Vet any outside arts partners
If working with a vendor, confirm their staff meet instructional/credential requirements and their programming aligns with VAPA standards.
Compliance & Documentation
The paperwork that protects you at audit time is far easier to build before the year starts than to reconstruct after.
Get the site expenditure plan board-approved
Prop 28 requires a board-approved site-level expenditure plan — get it on the agenda before the year begins, not after funds are already being spent.
Set up an ongoing documentation system
Track invoices, FTE allocations, timesheets, and vendor contracts in one place from day one, so your annual report and audit aren’t a scramble.
Calendar your annual AMS Portal certification
The annual certification and expenditure report must be completed and posted publicly before your audit, put the deadline on the district calendar now.
Confirm the “supplement, not supplant” test
Walk through each planned expense and confirm it expands existing arts programming rather than replacing current funding sources.
Board & Community Communication
Transparency isn’t just good practice it’s part of what Prop 28 requires.
Prepare a board update on planned spending
Give your board a clear, plain-language summary of how funds will be used this year before the year begins.
Plan how you’ll publicize the annual report
Decide where the required public report will live, district website, board packet, newsletter, before it’s due.
Line up family-facing messaging
A short explainer for parents on what new arts programming is coming builds visible, trackable community support.
Common Pitfalls this Checklist Provides
These are the issues that most often surface mid-year when pre-planning gets skipped.
PITFALL
HOW EARLY PLANNING PREVENTS THIS
Supplant instead of supplement
Missed 80% staffing threshold
Unspent funds reverting to CDE
Audit-time scrambling
Documenting the 2022–23 baseline up front makes it easy to show funds are additive, not a replacement.
Early recruitment and CTC pathway review reduce the odds of a late-year shortfall and build your waiver case if one’s still needed.
A working budget and program plan in place before the year starts keeps spending on pace across the 3-year window.
An ongoing documentation system from day one means your annual report is a summary, not a reconstruction project.
Rule of thumb: if a task on this checklist depends on hiring, board approval, or CDE submission timelines, start it in the phase before you think you need to.
Waiver FAQ
Who submits the waiver request — the school or the district?
The LEA (district, charter, or county office), not the individual school site. It’s submitted through the CDE’s AMS Portal by someone with superintendent-level access.
Does a waiver give us more time to spend Prop 28 funds?
No. The waiver only affects the 80/20 staffing split. Each annual allocation must still be spent within its three-year window, or unspent funds revert to the CDE.
Can we use a waiver every year?
Yes, if the need persists — but it isn’t automatic. Districts re-apply and provide updated good-cause documentation for each allocation year.
What counts as "good cause"?
Typically, evidence of active, good-faith recruitment for arts staff that hasn’t fully succeeded — job postings, interview records, and hiring timelines are the kind of documentation CDE looks for.
Want this checklist built into your district’s calendar?
After School Music Academy helps districts turn this into a working timeline, staffing, budget, documentation, and board dates mapped to your school year.