The two numbers on the Recovery flyer are not a staffing slogan. They are a condition of ADA.
Education Code 46211(f) is one paragraph. Pupils in Attendance Recovery have to be in educational activities aligned to grade-level standards, substantially equivalent to the regular program. They sit under the immediate supervision and control of a certificated teacher who is an employee of the LEA. Then the ratio: it shall not exceed 10 to 1 for transitional kindergarten and kindergarten, or 20 to 1 for grades 1 to 12. The LEA has to keep documentation that the ratio was met.
That is the whole lesson. I keep watching people copy the afterschool staff line onto a Recovery roster and call it done.
What 10 to 1 actually counts
CDE’s Attendance Recovery FAQ 19, updated May 4, 2026, restates the same two numbers and names who counts as the adult: an employee of the LEA who is qualified to teach in a TK-12 classroom during the regular day. Remote supervision does not. In-person instruction is required for the minutes to count.
A substitute can supervise only if that person is an LEA employee with a valid certification document under the sections Education Code 46211(f) already cites, 46300 and 47612.5. CDE FAQ 20 says so.
Third-party expanded learning staff can run a lot of the afternoon. They cannot be the Recovery teacher. The complete guide already walks that line.
Ten pupils in TK with one credentialed district teacher. Twenty pupils in grade 4 with one. If a Recovery classroom contains TK or kindergarten pupils, Section HZ tells the auditor to check a 10 to 1 pupil-to-certificated-teacher ratio. For all other grades the same procedure checks 20 to 1. Education Code 46211(f) writes those two bands. It does not give a blended formula.
Two programs, two 10-to-1 tests
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Recovery, TK and K
No more than 10 pupils per certificated LEA teacher. Education Code 46211(f).
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Recovery, grades 1 to 12
No more than 20 pupils per certificated LEA teacher. Same subdivision. Documentation required.
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ELO-P, TK and K
No more than 10 pupils per staff member. That is staff, not a credential test. Education Code 46120(b)(5)(D).
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ELO-P, other grades
No more than 20 pupils per staff member, as Section DZ procedure 8 samples it.
Same digits. Different adult. CDE still puts a pupil in one program or the other in a given stretch of minutes.
Why the afterschool copy fails
Education Code 46120(b)(5)(D) points ELO-P at 8483.4, then tightens TK and kindergarten to 10 to 1 pupil-to-staff. The 2026-27 audit guide, Section DZ procedure 8 samples that as 10 to 1 if TK or K was served, 20 to 1 for other grades. Staff. Fingerprint clearance. Not “the credentialed employee of the LEA who can generate ADA.”
If you braid the two programs in one cafeteria, the Recovery pupils still need the Recovery adult. Education Code 46120(d)(3)(B) lets ELO-P dollars support Recovery when the LEA operates Recovery in conjunction with, and on the same schoolsite as, its expanded learning program, and meets 46211(f). CDE adds that the programs run at the same time, at the same site, with the LEA still meeting ELO-P requirements. Morning Recovery on ELO-P dollars while ELO-P only runs after school is not that test. The Assembly Bill 176 letter is the cleanup note on supervision.
Section HZ will sample the Recovery register for the certificated employee and the 10 to 1 or 20 to 1 ratio. An afterschool aide with a 20-pupil TK group is not a recovered day.
What I want on the wall this week
Print Education Code 46211(f). Next to it, print the assignment for that room: teacher, credential, LEA employment, grade band, pupil count, date. Do not put “20 to 1” on a TK Recovery door.
The longer packet is the Attendance Recovery hub. Saturday school is still a different statute in Saturday School vs. Attendance Recovery. Paperwork is still the leak in Absences Aren’t the Biggest Leak.
If you want to see how those ratios sit in a schedule, that is the Attendance Recovery page.
Sources
Where Attendly fits
See how Attendance Recovery runs in Attendly
Scheduling, certificated ratios, and the documentation trail a board or auditor can follow.
Attendance Recovery
