Date:
To:
From:
Subject:
August 6, 2021
School District State Aid Designees
BOCES District Superintendents (For Information)
Storme Sing-Wai
Bureau Chief
Release of 2021-22 State Aid Management System (SAMS), including the ST-3 Annual Financial Report
Important Changes for the 2021-22 SAMS Claim Year Reporting
Form Set A – Attendance
- Sch A5 now includes 2 additional fields that need to be completed:
7. Session cancelled due to adverse weather conditions (total days)
8. Remote instruction pilot utilized due to adverse weather conditions (total days)
- Schedule B (Dual Enrollment) help text has been updated to better assist districts in completing that form.
180 Days Calendar – NOTE THAT THIS FORM SET WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY
- As per the 180 Day Requirement Compliance memo for the 2020-21SY, the 180 day model calendars Excel workbook will no longer be collected and uploaded to SAMS. Instead, the model calendar Excel workbook should be used by districts, and information from the district Summary tab will need to be completed (based upon the completed calendars for each school or grade level adjustment in the Excel spreadsheet) and transferred over to 180 Day Calendar form in SAMS. Please refer to the Help screen(s) for assistance in completing these forms and know that districts should assure that the calendar agrees with Sch A5.
- There is another waiver application for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years. If your district was not approved for the full four years in 2019-20 SAMS (through the 2021-22SY), your district will need to apply again. If you were approved in either 2019-20 or 2020-21 SAMS for the 2020-21SY waiver and wish to receive a waiver for 2021-22SY, your district will also need to apply.
Form Set FB – Building and Misc.
- Building Condition Survey (BCS): BCS actual and projected square footage & expenditure data should be reported on Form FB Lines 138 & 139. Please note the following restrictions:
- Only districts on SED Office of Facilities Planning 2020 and 2021 BCS assignment list and NYC can apply for 2021-22 BCS aid.
- Only districts on SED Office of Facilities Planning 2021 or 2022 BCS assignment lists and NYC can report 2021-22 projections.
- Form FB Schedule W: The form for claiming aid on water testing should only include water testing expenditures in 2021-22 SAMS.
- Form FB Interest Rate Reduction Waiver Application Form: After several years of deferred implementation, the provision reducing interest rates after ten years was put in effect in 2017-18 SAMS. The information requested on this form will impact waivers for your projected and actual 2022-23 aid. Please be sure to complete this form.
Form Set FT – Transportation
The automated Bus Purchase Approval system was added to 2017-18 SAMS. Please do not submit any paper SA-16 forms to SED for buses purchased after 6/30/17. SED will not process these, as districts will be entering them into the SAMS bus purchase form.Form Set ST-3
All changes to the 2021-22 SAMS ST-3 can be found on the ST-3 Information page.
Below are some of the significant changes:
-GASB Statement 84 outlines the specific criteria needed to determine which activities are fiduciary in nature. As there are significant changes resulting from this statement for how local governments and school districts will report items currently being reported as fiduciary in nature, it is important that local governments and school districts assess which activities are fiduciary under the new standards.
For additional information, as well as a questionnaire as to what constitutes a fiduciary activity, see OSC GASB 84 Bulletin GASB 84 also activated new account codes for the following funds:
- General
- Special Aid
- School Food Service
- Public Library
- Special Revenue
- Private-Purpose Trust
For a full list of activated account codes see School District Account Codes Added for GASB 84 (Note: Due to the extensive account code additions, fund lines and corresponding edits/help menu has been renumbered.)
- School District Federal Aid – Between the American Rescue Plan (ARP) and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Acts, school districts will receive additional funding for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund (established under the CARES Act). Additionally, the CRRSA Act provides additional funding to the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund.
- School districts cannot recognize these monies as a revenue until the expenditures the aid will be used to pay for have been incurred by the school districts and SED has approved the school district’s application. What this means for school districts is that they will need to recognize a liability in special aid fund account code F688 Other Liabilities (Specify) when aid is received before all eligibility requirements have been met. Once all eligibility requirements are met, school districts can then recognize the revenue in account code F4289 – Other Federal Aid.
For more information see OSC June 2021 Bulletin
When recording aid-related expenditures, school districts should continue to record expenditures using existing expenditure codes. If an active expenditure account code is not available for a specific type of expenditure, school districts should use account code F1988.4 – Unclassified Expenditures and specify the expenditure.
Additional guidance for allowable expenditures under ARP & CRRSA can be found at the following links:- Department of Education
- American Rescue Plan
- Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Webpage
- Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund Webpage
- Coronavirus Guidance for P-12 Schools
State Education Department
Important Reminders
- If you issued debt between 7/1/20 and 6/30/21 for purchasing school buses, please complete and certify Form set F6 by Thursday, September 2, 2021 even if none of your other SAMS forms are complete.
- Please check that all contact information on the SAMS entity screen is up-to-date, including extension numbers and email addresses.
Less than Eight Teacher Districts
If your district is currently classified as a "less than eight teacher" district but you anticipate the possibility of claiming State Aid and/or becoming a "major district" at any time in the near future you should begin submitting state aid claim forms now. This is because many aid calculations depend upon data from two to three prior years.
SAMS General Instructions & Passwords
SAMS can be accessed from the State Aid Web site at http://stateaid.nysed.gov or from the main New York State Education Department home page at http://www.nysed.gov (look for the Portal Login at the upper right of this page).
Districts should use SEDDAS (State Education Department Delegated Account System) to create, disable accounts or reset passwords. For procedures for a new superintendent's account/password go to http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/sedrefupdate.htm
For detailed SAMS operating instructions/training materials go to the SAMS Information Tab on the State Aid web site. The SAMS Training Manual, Frequently Asked Questions about SAMS, "Introduction to State Aid Management System" slide show and other important tips for working in SAMS can be found there.
Certification Requirements
An electronic certification form for each form set must be completed by the Superintendent to submit State Aid claim forms. By certifying a form set, the Superintendent’s action constitutes his or her official submission of that data to SED. The electronic signature is the legal equivalent of a handwritten signature.
As a reminder, an attestation was added to the SAMS ST-3 certification Affidavit of Superintendent or Chancellor: As of 2017-18 SAMS, the certification affidavit includes an attestation that the reported expenditures on ST-3 Supplemental Schedule SS-8 (Community Schools Set-aside Expenditures) will be, with the exception of CSGI Cohort 1 funds, used to supplement and not supplant district expenditures for eligible programs and services.
The Office of the State Comptroller also requires the ST-3 Annual Financial Report certification page to be completed and mailed to the address shown below. Please do not send this form to the Education Department. This form should be signed by the treasurer and returned to the Office of the State Comptroller at the following address:
Office of the State Comptroller
Local Government and School Accountability
Data Management Unit 12-8-C
110 State Street
Albany, NY 12236-0001
Attention: Edward Burgess
Timely Submission of Claim Data: INITIAL CERTIFIED SUBMISSION
- All SAMS Form Sets must be certified by September 2nd. District superintendents and public-school superintendents are requested to supervise the completion and timely submission of the aid claim and projections by the school districts for which each is responsible. Since late filing of required forms will delay payment of State Aid, every effort should be made to meet the specified due date
- Payments can take a week to prepare and are required to be submitted to the Office of the State Comptroller two weeks prior to the mandated payment date. Therefore, claims should be submitted three weeks prior to a mandated payment date (e.g., claim data must be submitted by September 25th for a payment to be made on or before October 16th in order to ensure that the payment due will be received in October).
- If all required reports are not received by September 2nd, the school district will receive automated reminders that State Aid apportionments payable to the school district, other than payments to the Teachers Retirement System on the district's behalf, will be withheld pursuant to Section 3604(11) of the Education Law pending receipt of all reports due. Automated reminders will be sent to the State Aid Designee first. Subsequent reminders will also include the school superintendent, the district superintendent, and the president of the board of education.
- Please do not wait for completion of your independent audit in order to submit your ST-3 and other claim forms! All form sets can be submitted separately, and all data can be revised multiple times after submission.
Timely Submission of Claim Data: REVISIONS AFTER CERTIFICATION
Throughout the legislative cycle each year the Governor and the Legislature use districts and BOCES State Aid claims and projections to predict the fiscal impact of various legislative proposals affecting school aid formulas. The resulting predictions of fiscal impact are only as accurate as the data that has been filed with the Education Department.
School districts and BOCES should review and revise SAMS data as necessary. Review should be timed to be consistent with Section 305(21)(b) of the Education Law which requires the Commissioner of Education to update that data used by the Governor and the Legislature on November 15, February 15 and May 15. In order for the Education Department to process all data revisions and corrections prior to each of these data updates, revisions and corrections should be submitted no later than the following specified dates
| Date of Electronic Data File Update for the Governor and Legislature | Principal Purpose of the Data File |
Revisions in the Education Department by: |
|---|---|---|
| November 15 | Executive Budget Proposal | November 1 * |
| February 15 | Budget Negotiations and Enacted Budget | January 15 |
May 15 |
Updated Enacted Budget projections and June current year aid payments. | April 15 |
*This is a deadline for revisions to already submitted claims, not the deadline for original submission, which pursuant to NYS Education Law is Thursday, September 2nd, 2021. In addition, due to lengthier processing time, revisions to capital project costs, SA-139 forms and STAC data should be submitted by mid-October to affect the November 15th data file.
Submission of the Independent Audit Report
The report of the annual audit of the school district's records by an independent certified public accountant or an independent public accountant (Independent Audit Report) is due in the Department on October 15, 2021 for districts other than the five large dependent city school districts.
Please note that upon receipt of the Independent Audit Report, the district must reconcile its financial reports and implement any audit recommendations. Any resulting revisions to the ST-3 or the State Aid forms must be submitted via SAMS to the State Education Department.
The Independent Audit Report should be submitted using the NYSED Portal (NYSED Portal Tutorial). For more information on submission of the Independent Audit Report see the Office of Audit Service’s website.
Any questions related to submissions of the Independent Audit should be submitted to FSandSingleAudit@nysed.gov.
To verify that receipt of the independent audit has been logged into SAMS, select the "SED Only" form set from the menu, choose the Independent Audit Form and confirm that the date independent audit received has been entered by SED Audit Services.
| Questions Regarding | Please Call or email |
|---|---|
| SAMS/SAMS Problems | State Aid Office: (518) 474-2977 |
| RSU | Rate Setting Unit (518) 474-3227 |
| CPSE | STAC Unit (518) 474-7116 |
| Login/User Id Help | SEDDAS Help Desk (518) 473-8832 |
| Other Questions |
State Aid Staff Assignments Functional Directory State Aid Unit at (518) 474-2977 |