Article 5. New Construction Funding Process of California Education Code >> Division 1. >> Title 1. >> Part 10. >> Chapter 12.5. >> Article 5.

(a) An applicant school district that has been determined by the board to meet the eligibility requirements for new construction funding set forth in Article 2 (commencing with Section 17071.10) or Article 3 (commencing with Section 17071.75) may submit at any time a request to the board for a project apportionment for all or a portion of the funding for which the school district is eligible.
  (b) The application shall include, but shall not be limited to, the school district's determination of the amount of state funding that the district is otherwise eligible for relating to site acquisition, site development, new construction, and hardship funding provided pursuant to Article 8 (commencing with Section 17075.10), if any. The amount shall be reduced by the amount of the alternative fee collected pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 65995.7 of the Government Code if a reimbursement election or agreement pursuant to Section 65995.7 of the Government Code is not in effect.
  (c) The board shall verify and adjust, as necessary, and approve the district's application.

(a) The board shall adopt regulations to develop a mechanism to rank approved applications for new construction funding. This mechanism shall be used to determine the priority of approved applications when either of the following conditions are met:
  (1) The total state funds necessary for funding all approved projects pursuant to this chapter exceed the total state funds in the fund for allocation pursuant to this chapter.
  (2) The actual amount of unallocated proceeds of state bonds available on or after July 1, 2000, for new construction for the purposes of this chapter is at three hundred million dollars ($300,000,000).
  (b) The ranking mechanism shall allocate priority points based upon the percentages of currently and projected unhoused pupils relative to the total population of the applicant district or attendance area and the total number of currently and projected unhoused pupils in an applicant district or attendance area.
  (c) The board may award priority points based on other factors that in its judgment result in the most equitable distribution of resources among applicants. The additional factors may not constitute greater than a 10-percent weight in the overall priority ranking.
  (d) This section shall apply only to projects funded with the proceeds of state bonds approved by the voters prior to January 1, 2002.

(a) Subject to the availability of funds, and to the determination of priority pursuant to Section 17072.25, if applicable, the board shall apportion funds to an eligible school district only upon the approval of the project by the Department of General Services pursuant to the Field Act, as defined in Section 17281, and certification by the school district that the required 50 percent matching funds from local sources have been expended by the district for the project, or have been deposited in the county fund, or will be expended by the district by the time the project is completed, in an amount at least equal to the proposed apportionment pursuant to this chapter, prior to release of the state funds.
  (b) This section is operative January 1, 2008.

(a) For any project that has received an apportionment pursuant to Section 17072.30, funding shall be released in amounts equal to the amount of the local match upon certification by the school district that the school district has entered into a binding contract for completion of the approved project.
  (b) This section is operative January 1, 2008.

In the case of site acquisition, a district may request that the state's share of site assistance be provided to the district in amounts equal to the amount of the local match when the district enters escrow for a site included within a project.

A grant for new construction may be used for any and all costs necessary to adequately house new pupils in any approved project, and those costs may only include the cost of design, engineering, testing, inspection, plan checking, construction management, site acquisition and development, evaluation and response action costs relating to hazardous substances at a new or existing schoolsite, demolition, construction, acquisition and installation of portable classrooms, landscaping, necessary utility costs, utility connections and other fees, equipment including telecommunication equipment to increase school security, furnishings, and the upgrading of electrical systems or the wiring or cabling of classrooms in order to accommodate educational technology. A grant for new construction may also be used to acquire an existing government or privately owned building, or a privately financed school building, and for the necessary costs of converting the government or privately owned building for public school use. A grant for new construction may also be used for the costs of designs and materials that promote the efficient use of energy and water, the maximum use of natural lighting and indoor air quality, the use of recycled materials and materials that emit a minimum of toxic substances, the use of acoustics conducive to teaching and learning, and other characteristics of high performance schools.