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By Racquel Palmese

Seventy-eight school construction projects in California have been fast-tracked to receive their share of $408 million in state bond funding, as school districts hustle to prove they have matching funds in place and are ready to begin building within a tight 90-day time frame.

The State Allocation Board (SAB) announced the $408 million allocation of matching funds for shovel-ready school construction projects after its recent board meeting. This is in addition to a $960 million allocation announced In April, which marked the largest distribution of school facility funds in more than a year. The latest allocation brings the total of state funding for school construction to over $1.3 billion so far this year. These bond funds can only be used for school construction, including furniture and equipment.

All together these funds help finance 263 school construction projects. The $960.7 million was allocated to 185 school construction projects that were approved by voters under Propositions 1D, 55 and 47. Proposition 1D, officially the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2006, provided $10.42 billion in general obligation bonds for educational facilities, of which $7.3 billion is earmarked for K-12 projects and the rest for community college and university projects.

The State Allocation Board facilitates the processing of school applications for the Office of Public School Construction and makes funding available to qualifying school districts. Proposition 55, the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2004, narrowly passed but did allow the state to sell $12.3 billion in general obligation bonds for school and higher education facilities. An earlier bond measure, Proposition 47, the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2002, approved the sale of $13.05 billion for education facilities.

Funding for Green Schools

Of the Proposition 1D money, $100 million was allocated to funding high performance schools. It is not clear how many, if any, of the current projects receiving state matching funds for construction projects have also applied for High Performance Incentive Grants, although there is still plenty of incentive funding left. About $11.3 million has been allocated for 43 projects, and as of May, 36 projects have received unfunded approvals totaling almost $7.8 million. According to the OPSC, there is $76.9 million green schools incentives still available.

Fast Tracking

The 78 school construction projects in 42 districts that are being funded under this newest allocation are expected to create more than 7,000 new jobs. “Today’s action by the Board moves these 42 districts to the head of the line and gets them the funding they need to start construction on vital education facilities,” said SAB Chair Cynthia Bryant. “New construction activity spurs job creation and gives our economy the boost it needs to get back on track.”

This latest round of funding was approved under a pilot program of accelerated funding rules approved by the SAB in May to give priority to school projects that are ready to proceed with construction. According to Barbara Kampmeinert, Policy and Specials Team Supervisor for the OPSC, “All of the projects on the list had previously received unfunded approval from the SAB, which means they’ve met all the criteria, so the Board was able to make apportionments to their projects, so they’re ready to go.”

Pressure is On

Qualifying school districts have 90 days in which to prove that they have local matching funds on hand equaling, in most cases, 50 percent for new construction and 40 percent for renovations. If districts do not begin construction work within 90 days, the state will withhold funding, and the district will have to move to the back of the line behind other districts waiting for funding. This could mean waiting months or years before they would receive an apportionment.

Some school districts experiencing financial hardships were also able to compete for priority funding to purchase future school sites or to begin design work. “There are a few projects on the list that qualify for the financial hardship program,” says Kampmeinert. In those cases, the state can pay up to 100 percent of the project.”

Whether or not this fast-tracking of approved, shovel-ready projects will continue is not clear, says Kampmeinert. The Board will assess the benefits of its pilot project and make a decision in coming months as more bonds are sold.

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