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Leveling the Playing Field for Prop 1D
In November 2006, voters
authorized $10.4 billion for school facility construction and
modernization through
Proposition 1D – the Kindergarten-University Facilities Bond Act of
2006. This bond set aside $100 million for incentive grants to promote the
use of high-performance attributes in new construction and modernization
projects for K-12 schools.
High performance attributes include using designs and materials that
promote energy and water efficiency, maximize the use of natural lighting,
improve indoor air quality, use recycled materials and materials that emit
a minimum of toxic substances, and employ acoustics that aid in teaching
and learning.
The High Performance Incentive grants were expected to be in place earlier
this year. But previous regulations put forward to implement the program
were rescinded because they were insufficient.
“The regulations require incorporation of a high performance framework
such as
CHPS (Collaborative for High Performance Schools) or
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) or the creation
of our own standard,” said Rob Cook, the new executive officer for the
Office of Public School Construction (OPSC).
At this point, the State is negotiating with CHPS to obtain a license to
the CHPS framework. “The CHPS framework is holistic. It considers policy,
curriculum, and transportation as well as facilities,” says Cook. “Those
are all great things to consider, but the focus for the school facility
bond funds has to be on those criteria with facility components. We just
need to make sure that the State has the flexibility it needs to run a
really smart program.”
Under Cook’s leadership, the OPSC wants to ensure that the $100 million is
distributed to as many school construction projects as possible and that
it is used to fund aspects of green building that are more difficult to
achieve. The high performance grants will provide incentives of between 2
to 10 percent of the per-pupil grant for high performance facilities.
Cook says, “There are some things that are easy to do and some that are
harder. We want to provide incentives to do the more difficult things that
take a facility from a good school to a high performing school.” Promoting
the use of renewable energy, strongly supported by the governor, and
coalescing with incentives under the
California Solar Initiative, is something Cook would like to see tie
in with 1-D.
OPSC wants a level playing field in making 1-D funding available to as
many school districts as possible. "Can an urban, suburban, or rural school meet a criterion? If
the answer is yes, then it’s something we want to include as a point of
equity,” Cook says.
The 1-D regulations are scheduled to be discussed at a meeting of the
State Allocation Board’s Implementation Committee on August 3. The
committee, a group of professionals in the school building and design
community, will vet the new regulations, which will then hopefully be
adopted by the State Allocation Board in late August. From there the
regulations must be approved by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL).
Once OAL approves the regulations, funding will be available. If
everything falls into place, 1-D projects may be funded by November.
Kristin Heinen, CHPS assistant executive director, agrees
that there are changes being made on how the funding will be allocated and
which high performance features will be covered. “We would encourage
interested parties to attend the Implementation Committee meeting on
August 3rd to provide input and hear the discussion,” she says.
The meeting agenda and handouts can be
downloaded
at the OPSC website.
“We’re doing this so we can put forward a really intelligent funding
framework that will help leverage the $100 million and get it out to as
many schools as possible,” Cook says. “We want it to be a smart program,
very focused, that will provide incentives to build energy-efficient and
educationally exceptional facilities.”
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