CALIFORNIA STATUTES AND CODES
SECTIONS 16000-16105
EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 16000-16105
16000. This chapter may be cited as the State School Building Aid
Law of 1952.
16001. The Legislature hereby declares that it is in the interest
of the state and of the people thereof for the state to aid school
districts of the state in providing necessary schoolsites and
buildings for the pupils of the public school system, this system
being a matter of general concern inasmuch as the education of the
children of the state is an obligation and function of the state.
In adopting this chapter, the Legislature considers that the great
need in school construction is for classrooms for the education of
the pupils of the public school system. It is the intent of the
Legislature to first satisfy this primary need to the greatest extent
possible before providing additional educational facilities,
regardless of how desirable such additional facilities may be. To the
end that school classrooms may be made available at once and to all
school districts in need of such classrooms, provisions for other
needed school facilities is necessarily subordinated.
16002. As used in this chapter:
(a) "Board" means the State Allocation Board.
(b) "Director" means the Director of Education for kindergarten
and grades 1 to 12, inclusive.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, the term "project" shall be
deemed to include any or all of the purposes for which a school
district has applied for apportionments under this chapter, pursuant
to any regulations that the State Allocation Board may adopt.
(d) "Grade level maintained by a district" means any of the
following:
(1) The kindergarten, if any, and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, or
grades 1 to 8, inclusive, maintained by an elementary school district
or a unified school district.
(2) Grades 7 to 12, inclusive, grades 9 to 12, inclusive, or
grades 7 to 10, inclusive, maintained by a high school district or
unified school district.
However, not more than one grade level shall be claimed by any
district under any one of the paragraphs of this subdivision.
(e) "Apportionment" means an apportionment made under this chapter
unless the context otherwise requires. The term "apportionment" in
Sections 16091, 16097, 16099, 16100, 16104, 16105, and any other
section in this chapter where the context justifies, shall be deemed
to include funds of a school district required by the board to be
contributed toward the purposes thereof. It is hereby declared that
this construction is not intended as a change in the present law but
rather as a declaration of existing law.
16002.5. For the purposes of this chapter, the term "basic bond
requirement," means 5 percent of the assessed valuation of taxable
property of the district for each grade level maintained by a
district, as shown by the last equalized assessment of the county or
counties in which the district is located, and as modified by Section
41201 or Section 84201.
16003. With respect to applications filed on and after the
effective date of this section by a unified district and any
apportionments and repayments made under the applications, "grade
level maintained by the district" means the kindergarten, if any, and
grades 1 to 12, inclusive, maintained by the district.
A unified district if otherwise eligible, may apply for and
receive an apportionment for either one or both of the grade levels.
This section shall not apply to a unified district during the
first three years following the effective date of this section, or
during the first three fiscal years in which the district is in
existence for all purposes, if the governing board of the district
transmits to the board a written notice stating the district desires
to be exempted from this section during that period.
16004. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the
contrary, the board shall review each application and shall take
action to insure that apportionments are not made that will provide
for construction of permanent facilities to meet temporary peak
enrollments at any site or at any grade level. In cases deemed by the
board to be hardship cases involving high school or unified school
districts where the district will not be able to house high school
pupils under basic area limitation formulas prescribed in this
chapter, the board may make apportionments for high school facilities
in excess of the limitations. In that event, the board may provide
for the construction of portable facilities at any particular site
for which the apportionments are made, particularly where the board
determines that there will be, within a six- to nine-year period
immediately following the apportionment for facilities at the site, a
diminution in enrollment at the site justifying relocation of
facilities. In no event shall the board have any authority to make an
apportionment for construction area at a high school attendance
center which, when added to the area of adequate school construction
at that center, would exceed the area permitted therefor by Sections
16053 and 16054.
16005. The Director of General Services shall administer this
chapter and shall provide any assistance to the board that it may
require.
16006. The State Allocation Board is continued in existence for the
purposes of this chapter. The members of the board and the Members
of the Legislature meeting with the board shall receive no
compensation for their services under this chapter but shall be
reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in
connection with the performance of their duties hereunder, to be paid
out of the State School Building Aid Fund.
16007. The board by the adoption of rules shall give priority in
allocating funds to districts to those districts where the children
will benefit most from additional schoolhouse facilities. This
priority shall be based on acuteness of overcrowding, on rapidity of
growth in attendance, and on the time the district's application has
been ready for allotment. The board may make exceptions when it
determines that it will be for the benefit of the children affected.
The State Department of Education shall assist and cooperate with
the board in determining priorities.
16008. In allocating funds under this chapter, the board may give
first priority to school districts for the replacement and repair of
school buildings and necessary facilities appurtenant thereto damaged
by any earthquake occurring subsequent to July 1, 1952. All of the
provisions of this chapter apply to the districts except the
provisions for the establishment of priorities.
Prior to making any apportionment under this section, the State
Allocation Board may secure from the Department of General Services,
a report showing the urgency of the work of replacement or repair for
which an application has been filed. The report shall not be
conclusive upon the State Allocation Board, but shall be advisory
only.
16009. In addition to any other powers and duties that are granted
the board by this chapter, the board shall:
(a) Establish any qualifications not in conflict with other
provisions of this chapter that it deems will best serve the purposes
of this chapter for determining the eligibility of school districts
to apportionments of funds under this chapter.
(b) Establish any procedures and policies in connection with the
administration of, and the expenditure of funds made available for
the purpose of, this chapter that it deems necessary and which are
not in conflict with the powers and duties of the State Department of
Education or of the director granted or imposed by this chapter.
(c) Adopt any rules and regulations for the administration of this
chapter, requiring the procedure, forms, and information, that it
may deem necessary.
16010. The State Department of Education, in addition to any
responsibilities or approvals required under Sections 39000 to 39323,
inclusive, shall provide the following services to school districts
making applications for apportionments under this chapter:
(1) It shall assist school districts in organizing a comprehensive
planning effort. It shall guide a planning process through its
appropriate steps and, when requested by a school district, it shall
provide the school district with sources of expertise, either public
or private, which may be able to contribute to the development of
plans to find solutions for specific problems a school district may
have.
(2) It shall provide continuing research in relation to all phases
of educational programs and the school facilities that are required
to implement these educational programs.
(3) It shall provide a review and evaluation service to school
districts to assure the effectiveness of the facilities that have
been provided in accommodating educational programs.
(4) It shall provide communication media through publications,
seminars, and prepare planning guides and procedures containing
recommendations, which guides shall be used to disseminate
educational planning information to all school districts.
16011. Each school district which desires an apportionment of funds
under this chapter shall, unless specifically exempted by the board,
prepare a long-range comprehensive master plan for the district
prepared in accordance with acceptable planning procedures.
Information relating to the following factors should be included in
this master plan:
(a) A statement of the educational programs and goals of the
district in relation to its programs, both current and future.
(b) A comprehensive evaluation and report of the utilization of
the school facilities now existing in the district.
(c) A comprehensive demographic study of the district, as it
currently exists and as projected into the future.
(d) A policy statement regarding actual or potential human
problems.
(e) A policy statement as to the priority in which the district
proposes to solve its school housing problems.
(f) A policy statement regarding cooperation with other local
public agencies to achieve total community development.
(g) A policy to insure continuous review so that plans will be
kept up to date and changing conditions will be reviewed and
accommodated by appropriate revision of plans.
The director shall review the long-range master plan and project
development plan and shall report his or her findings and
recommendations thereon to the board.
16012. The board shall prescribe instructions specifying the manner
in which property, real or personal, being replaced through the
apportionment, shall be disposed of, and compliance with the
instructions shall be a condition upon the making of the
apportionment. The net proceeds derived from the disposition shall be
contributed in reduction of any apportionment. Any school district
affected shall comply with instructions prescribed by the board. The
board may require a district to transfer to the state, by any
instruments deemed appropriate by the board, title to property,
whereupon, the board shall dispose of the property in any manner it
deems appropriate to insure the highest return to the state, and
apply the proceeds therefrom in reduction of apportionments to the
district. The district affected shall do all things deemed necessary
by the board to implement the disposition. Whenever the board
determines it to be in the best interests of the state, an
apportionment may be made for the demolition of any facilities
replaced through an apportionment. This section shall be applicable
to property replaced by apportionments heretofore or hereafter made
under this chapter or Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 15700) of
this part.
16013. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the
board may grant priority in the apportioning of funds to school
districts to those districts which have sold facilities replaced
under a previous application and have applied the proceeds therefrom
in reduction of prior apportionments to the district. Apportionments
so made shall not be in excess of the amount of the proceeds which
were applied to prior apportionments subsequent to July 1, 1970, and
shall be made only for projects which were approved by the board
prior to July 1, 1970.
16014. Apportionment from the State School Building Aid Fund to
school districts shall be made in the manner and subject to the
conditions herein provided and in accordance with policies adopted by
the board, for the following purposes, all of which purposes are
hereby declared to be, and are, public works:
(a) The purchase and improvement of schoolsites which have been
approved by the State Department of Education.
(b) The purchase of necessary desks, tables, chairs and other
movable furniture and equipment, as approved by the State Department
of Education.
(c) The planning and construction, reconstruction, alteration of,
the moving of portable classroom buildings on an existing site or to
another schoolsite, and addition to, school buildings, including
built-in or fixed equipment, for any facilities that are approved by
the State Department of Education as essential, except a room used
solely for an auditorium for a school of any type or class and a room
used solely for a gymnasium or a room used solely for a cafeteria
for elementary schools. This section does not prohibit the State
Department of Education from approving multipurpose rooms which are
rooms designed to be used for two or more of the following purposes:
(1) Classroom.
(2) Auditorium.
(3) Gymnasium.
(4) Cafeteria.
(5) Any other purposes that district requires which are approved
by the State Department of Education.
Where a district is required by a contract entered into between
itself and a contractor, to obtain at its own expense insurance
covering risks incurred during any construction, reconstruction or
alteration for which an apportionment has been made, the cost thereof
may be paid either directly, or by way of reimbursement, to the
district out of the apportionment, or out of any apportionment made
specifically covering the insurance. However, in other respects the
apportionments are eligible for payment under this chapter.
In addition to the foregoing, the board may make an apportionment
to a school district for the purchase from another school district of
existing facilities, real or personal, including the site thereof,
or any portion of any of the foregoing, providing that the board
finds that it is economical and good practice on the part of the
acquiring district to purchase the same, and that the consideration
to be paid in the light of all the circumstances surrounding the
transfer is fair and equitable both to the acquiring district and to
the state.
16015. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the
board may make an apportionment to any school district for the cost
of leasing portable classrooms during the period in which additional
school facilities are being constructed by a previously approved
project, provided that each of the following conditions is satisfied:
(a) The district has received a final apportionment for the
previously approved project and the construction of which has not yet
been completed.
(b) Estimates of average daily attendance used for justifying the
previously approved project indicate either of the following:
(1) An increase over the base period of projection of at least 15
percent.
(2) A substantial number of district classes being on triple
session during the period of construction, as determined by the State
Allocation Board.
(c) The district is making maximum use of its existing facilities
through the operation of one or more continuous school programs.
Any apportionment made to a school district pursuant to this
section shall be added to the final apportionment for the previously
approved project specified in subdivision (a), and the repayment
thereof by the school district shall be made under the same terms and
conditions as prescribed for the final apportionment.
16016. A leasehold or use permit interest held by a school district
in land owned in fee simple by the government of the United States
may, for all purposes of this chapter, be deemed a purchase of land
by the district and to vest title and ownership in the district.
16017. The board shall not make any apportionment with respect to
an application for replacing inadequate school facilities unless it
has first investigated and made a finding that it would not be
economical or good practice to rehabilitate said facilities.
16018. In addition to the purposes for which apportionments may be
made to school districts under Section 16014, apportionments may also
be made to school districts for the construction, repair, attachment
or development of offsite facilities, utilities or improvements
which the board determines are necessary to the proper operation or
functioning of the school facilities for which apportionments are
made, all of which purposes are hereby declared to be, and are,
public works.
16019. In making applications for, and in expending apportionments
of funds under this chapter, a school district acts as an agent of
the state and all sites purchased and improved, all equipment
purchased, and all buildings constructed, reconstructed, altered, or
added to through the expenditure of funds apportioned under this
chapter, are declared to be, and are, the property of the state.
The Director of General Services shall file with the county
recorder of the county in which any site purchased or improved
through the expenditure of funds apportioned under this chapter is
located a certificate, properly acknowledged, indicating the state's
interest in real property of the district by virtue of this section,
without the necessity of particularizing the real property. The
recorder shall record and index the certificate in the same manner as
abstracts of judgments and the certificate shall constitute
constructive notice of the state's interest in the particular real
property affected. The certificate shall as to any party thereafter
acquiring real property or any interest therein in the county from
the school district have the same force, effect and priority as if it
had been a judgment lien imposed upon real property which was not
exempt from execution. This effect shall commence upon recordation
and continue until the certificate is discharged or released as
provided herein.
Upon request the Director of General Services shall do each of the
following:
(a) Issue a release of the state's interest in any real property
or a portion thereof that the district has been authorized by the
board to dispose of under Section 16105, provided that delivery of
the release may be subject to any conditions that may be prescribed
by the board to protect the state's interest.
(b) Issue a disclaimer of the state's interest in any real
property or a portion thereof of the district, the disposition of
which the board is not required to consent to under the terms of
Section 16105, provided that the delivery of the disclaimer may be
subject to any conditions that the board deems appropriate to protect
the interests of the state, including conditions relating to the
amount of consideration to be received from the disposition where the
board asserts an interest in the proceeds of the disposition under
other provisions of this chapter. The release or disclaimer shall
conclusively protect any third party relying upon the same and shall
be acknowledged to permit recordation by the county recorder.
Upon payment by the district of all amounts required to be paid by
it or on its behalf to the state under this chapter each of the
following shall occur:
(a) The Director of General Services shall file with the recorder
a release of any certificate. The release shall be recorded and
indexed in the same index as the certificate.
(b) The title to personal property purchased by the school
district with funds apportioned under this chapter shall revert to
the school district without further action by the state.
16020. The board may require school districts to insure for the
benefit of the state all sites, equipment, and buildings which are
under Section 16019 the property of the state, against any risk and
in any amounts that the board may deem necessary to protect the
interests of the state. No state funds apportioned under this chapter
shall be used to pay the premiums on the insurance.
16021. A school district shall not expend money apportioned under
this chapter unless the contracts under which the funds are expended
have been let after competitive bids thereafter pursuant to this
code.
16022. Funds apportioned to a school district under Section 16024
for a project, remaining unencumbered or unexpended one year from the
date the application of the district for apportionment was approved,
shall not be encumbered or expended except as provided in this
section.
The governing board of the district shall notify the board of its
desire to encumber or expend funds. The board shall immediately
request the State Department of Education to, and the department
shall, review the project for which apportionment was made. If the
State Department of Education finds that the conditions existing at
the time it approved the project for which the apportionment was made
have so changed that the needs of the district are less than
originally determined, it shall notify the board of its findings and
of the respects in which the project should accordingly be modified.
The board shall review the project and revise the project in any
manner that it deems necessary subject to Section 16067, and make any
changes in the purposes for which the apportionment may be expended
that it deems necessary. The cost of the project as revised by the
board shall be computed in the manner prescribed by Section 16024 and
the excess, if any, of the amount theretofore apportioned to the
district over the computed cost of the revised project shall be
deducted by the board from the apportionment made to the district.
The board shall give notice of its action, in writing, to the
Controller, the governing board of the district, and the county
auditor and the county treasurer having jurisdiction over the state
school building fund of the district. If the amount of the excess, or
any portion thereof, has not been paid to the district, the excess,
or portion thereof, shall be made available for apportionment to
other districts, if the excess, or portion thereof, has been paid to
the district, it shall not be encumbered or expended by the district
and shall become due and payable to the State of California. The
governing board of the district and the county treasurer shall pay
the amount to the Treasurer, out of the funds, and in the manner
specified in Section 16100. The payment shall, on order of the
Controller, be deposited in the State School Building Aid Fund in the
State Treasury.
It shall be the duty of the governing body and county treasurer to
make the payments to the Treasurer as provided in this section, and
it shall be the duty of the Controller to enforce the collection on
behalf of the state.
This section does not authorize the board to increase any
apportionment made to a school district.
16023. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a
district may apply, on a separate application, for an apportionment
for the purchase of laboratory and vocational training equipment,
whether or not the equipment is for use in connection with a
construction project.
All of the provisions of this chapter apply to the application and
apportionment except that:
(a) Any application for the equipment pursuant to this section
which is received by the board shall be transmitted to the State
Department of Education. If the State Department of Education
approves the application, it shall refer it to the board which shall
either approve or reject the application pursuant to Section 16024.
Any provision of Section 16024 inconsistent with this section shall
not apply to the application.
(b) Section 16007 does not apply.
(c) If the application is approved and an apportionment granted
therefor the district shall repay the full amount of the
apportionment and the interest thereon. The repayment of the
apportionment, and the interest thereon, may be over a period of
years, not to exceed 20 years from the first day of January of the
fiscal year next succeeding the fiscal year in which the
apportionment became final. The number of years allowed for repayment
shall be determined by the board at the time it fixes interest on
the apportionment. The repayment is in addition to any other
repayment required under this chapter.
16024. Each school district that desires an apportionment for a
grade level maintained by it, shall submit through its governing
board to the board an application therefor in the form and number of
copies as the board shall prescribe. Each copy of the application
shall be accompanied by a statement of the estimated cost of the
project certified by an architect or structural engineer, and by
layout plans showing the entire construction project for which the
district desires an apportionment. Before the board approves an
application for a construction project and makes an apportionment
pursuant to this chapter, it shall, after consultation with the
Department of General Services, establish standards for all new
construction included therein. After this consultation the board
shall establish current construction cost standards for that
construction. The standards shall not exceed typical comparable new
construction by school districts in the same area not receiving or
eligible for apportionment under this chapter, or if there has been
no new construction by school districts in the area, the standards
shall not exceed the reasonable current cost of similar construction
in the area. The board shall determine these typical current costs or
reasonable current costs. In applying those standards the board
shall take into account the size and type of the construction
proposed and may make deviations as in their judgment are justified.
When a standard has been set by the board to cover any individual
apportionment, no apportionment shall be made by the board in excess
of that standard, unless the board shall find that in view of a rapid
increase in building costs an adjustment is warranted. Immediately
upon receipt of an application in the prescribed form accompanied by
the required estimate of cost, a copy thereof shall be transmitted by
the board to the director and to the Director of General Services.
A school district shall not let any contract for new construction
included in an application for a construction project that has been
approved by the board if the cost exceeds the construction cost
standards fixed by the board under this section for that new
construction.
A school district may at any time amend or supplement its
application.
Each construction project for which a district applies for an
apportionment shall be applied for on a separate application and
shall be considered separately by the board. If a district applies
for more than one construction project, at the same time or at
different times, the priority points of the district shall be
recalculated after the approval of each separate construction project
and before a subsequent construction project is approved.
The board shall require the changes in the plans that an applicant
school district submits with its application as the board determines
is necessary or desirable to reduce the cost of the project. The
board may also, by rule, provide for the vesting in the director or
in the Director of General Services of the responsibility for
requiring those changes, according to whether the subject matter of
the change is subject to the jurisdiction or approval of the director
or the Director of General Services, respectively.
The board may, for good cause as it shall determine, reduce the
amount of, or modify any provisions relating to, any contribution
required of a school district under the terms of an apportionment,
other than any contribution required of the district under Section
16058 from the sale of bonds. However, the board may not, without the
consent of the district, increase the amount of any district
contribution under the terms of an apportionment, in the absence of
mistake arising from any source, or misrepresentation, concealment,
or omission, on the part of the district, intentional or otherwise.
The provisions of this paragraph shall be applicable to
apportionments heretofore or hereafter made.
The Director of General Services shall determine the school
district's financial ability to meet all or a portion of the cost of
the project and the amount that the school district can contribute
toward the cost of the project out of its available funds, and shall
submit his or her report thereon to the board.
The term "available funds" as used in the preceding paragraph
means funds of the district other than funds received by gift or
bequest.
The director shall, as promptly as possible, prepare a report and
recommendation with respect to the application and refer the
application, report, and recommendation to the Director of General
Services, who shall, if he or she finds the documents to be in proper
form and otherwise sufficient, refer them to the board. If the
director finds the documents to be lacking in any respect as to any
matter that is subject to the jurisdiction or approval of the
director or the State Department of Education, or the board of
governors, as appropriate to their jurisdiction, he or she shall
refer them to the director who shall take action as may be necessary.
Subject to this chapter, the board shall approve or reject each
application referred to it by the director. If the board approves of
the application, either in whole or in part, it shall, by a
resolution adopted by it, apportion to the district from the State
School Building Aid Fund the amount applied for, or any portion
thereof as the board may deem appropriate. However, it may order that
the apportionment or any part thereof shall be paid in progressive
installments at the time and under the conditions as it may then
prescribe. This shall be known as a conditional apportionment and
shall become final only if the vote provided for in Section 16058 is
favorable and if bonds are authorized and sold in the amounts
prescribed by the board, and the proceeds of the bonds sold earmarked
for the project as approved. The conditional apportionment shall
remain effective for a period of 12 months from the date of the
resolution of the board, and if it does not become a final
apportionment by that date, it shall become void and the money so
apportioned shall become again available for apportionment pursuant
to this chapter.
16025. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a
school district otherwise eligible to receive a conditional
apportionment under this chapter may apply for an adjustment of
annual repayment obligations in lieu of receiving the conditional
apportionment.
The board may require any information that is necessary to
determine the number of units of estimated average daily attendance
for which the district would have been eligible to construct school
facilities under this chapter, if the conditional apportionment had
been made and had become final. These units shall be known as
"eligible attendance units."
The board shall then determine an "eligible facilities cost" by
multiplying the number of the eligible attendance units by the
average cost of housing elementary or high school pupils as set forth
in the latest report to the Legislature required under Section
16098.
In any fiscal year in which the school district is in the judgment
of the board operating sufficient year-around classes to provide
housing for the eligible attendance units aforementioned, the
Director of General Services shall add to the amount which he or she
is required to certify to the Controller under Sections 16072, 16084,
and 16086 an amount equal to one-twentieth of the eligible
facilities costs.
The additional amount so certified shall be considered for all
purposes of this chapter as eligible bonded debt service.
16026. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, any
school district whose governing board has adopted and put into effect
a year-round school operation plan or continuous school program, as
defined in Section 16030, or has adopted a plan or program for
operation in the following school year, may apply to the board and
the board may provide financial assistance in furnishing and
installing an air cooling system in those facilities which will be so
operated, so long as the construction of the facility was commenced
prior to December 31, 1972. Financial assistance provided by the
board may be in any of the following forms:
(a) An apportionment pursuant to Section 16024.
(b) An authorization to use proceeds from the sale of district
bonds.
(c) An authorization to use the net proceeds derived from the sale
of unused schoolsites whether or not there are unpaid apportionments
outstanding against the sites.
The board shall establish cost standards applicable to the
furnishing and installing of air cooling systems in existing schools.
No apportionment or authorization shall be made by the board in
excess of the standard established for the apportionment.
16027. In any fiscal year in which the school district is
conducting a year-round school operation or continuous school
program, as defined in Section 16030, utilizing a facility for which
financial assistance was provided by the board under Section 16026,
the Director of General Services shall add to the amount which he or
she is required to certify to the Controller under Sections 16072,
16084 and 16086 an amount equal to the debt service for retirement of
bonds authorized for use under Section 16026.
16028. Any authorization of the proceeds derived from the sale of
an unused site pursuant to Section 16026 shall constitute a
conversion of the unpaid portion of the apportionment to the
application for an air cooling system as if an apportionment had
originally been made therefor. The converted apportionment shall be
repaid pursuant to Section 16069 irrespective of Section 16105.
16028.5. Whenever a school district has received an increased
building cost allowance pursuant to Section 16024 or 16026 for the
purpose of providing facilities for year-round school operation as
defined in Section 16030, and in any fiscal year subsequent to the
fiscal year in which the facilities are completed fails to conduct a
year-around school operation, the Director of General Services shall
in the following fiscal year deduct an amount from the eligible
bonded debt service of the district equal to one-twentieth of the
amount of the increased cost allowance plus interest thereon. The
total amount to be deducted in subsequent fiscal years after the
completion of the facilities shall not exceed seven-twentieths of the
amount of the increased allowance, plus interest.
16029. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a
school district qualifying for an adjustment of annual repayment
obligations under Section 16025 or 15731 may apply for an
apportionment under this chapter.
The apportionment shall not exceed the "eligible facilities cost",
as defined in Section 16025 or 15731, and may be made available,
upon the review and recommendation of the State Department of
Education, only for the modifications of existing facilities
necessary for the implementation of continuous school programs (as
defined in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 37600) of Part 22).
In allocating funds under this chapter, the board may give first
priority to school districts for modifications to existing facilities
to be made pursuant to this section when in the judgment of the
board the modifications of existing facilities are necessary for
operation of year-round classes. In no event shall apportionments be
made for modifications to a standard greater than could have been
constructed in a new school building under this article. All of the
provisions of the chapter apply to the districts except the
provisions for the establishment of priorities.
Any apportionment made under this section shall be deducted from
the eligible facilities costs before the Director of General Services
makes his or her computation of the adjustment under Section 16025
or 15731.
16031. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the
contrary, no school district shall be required, except as provided in
this section, to contribute toward the cost of a project for which
an application for an apportionment is filed, any of the following
funds of the district:
(a) Amounts in the general fund of the district which are
apportionments from the State School Fund.
(b) Amounts in the general fund of the district which are the
proceeds of a tax levy and have not been earmarked by the governing
board of the district or the electors of the district for any
purposes for which school district bonds may be issued and sold.
In considering an application for an apportionment the board may
review the purposes for which the district has expended or encumbered
proceeds from the sale of district bonds authorized to be issued at
an election held on or after September 3, 1952. Upon a finding by the
board that any such proceeds have been expended or encumbered for
purposes outside the scope and intent of this chapter, the board may
require the district to contribute toward the project for which an
apportionment is sought from any funds of the district, except those
referred to in subdivision (a) above, an amount equal to the amount
of district bonds proceeds expended or encumbered for purposes
outside the scope and intent of this chapter. Proceeds from the sale
of district bonds which have been encumbered or expended for the
purchase of schoolbuses authorized by Section 15100 shall be deemed
encumbered or expended for purposes outside the scope and intent of
this chapter.
If a district is required pursuant to this section to make a
contribution toward the project for which an apportionment is sought
as a result of the purchase prior to January 1, 1967, of schoolbuses
authorized by Section 15100 out of proceeds from the sale of district
bonds, the district at the time that the board determines that the
contribution is required may agree to pay the required contribution
by payment into the State School Building Aid Fund by 10 or less
annual installments payable without interest over a period not
exceeding 10 years after the date of the final apportionment. The
first installment shall be due and payable one year after the date of
the final apportionment. The installment payments shall be made by
the governing board of the district from moneys in the general fund
of the district if money is available therefor. If the governing
board of the district determines that money is not available in the
general fund of the district for such purposes, the maximum rate of
school district tax for any school year is hereby increased for any
school year by such amount not to exceed the amount of the proposed
payment into the State School Building Aid Fund as shown by the
budget for such school year as finally adopted by the governing board
of the district, less any unencumbered balances remaining at the end
of the preceding school year derived from the revenue from the
increase in the rate of tax provided by this section.
16032. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter,
whenever the board makes a finding pursuant to Section 16031 that
proceeds from the sale of district bonds have been expended or
encumbered by a school district for purposes outside the scope and
intent of this chapter the board, in lieu of requiring the district
to contribute toward the project for which an apportionment is sought
from any funds of the district, may stipulate that such bond funds
expended or encumbered shall not be considered as "eligible bonded
debt service" as defined in Section 16070 and 16084.
16033. The expenditure by a school district, prior to the filing of
an application for an apportionment under this chapter, of proceeds
from the sale of district bonds for the construction of a swimming
pool, shall not in and of itself constitute grounds for denying an
apportionment, but the board may require a contribution of district
funds therefor under Section 16031.
16034. Before the board approves an application for a furniture or
equipment project, or an application for a new construction project,
including furniture and equipment, and after consultation with the
State Department of Education, it shall establish current furniture
and equipment cost standards. Such standards shall not exceed the
quantity and quality of furniture and equipment for comparable
facilities purchased by school districts not receiving or not
eligible for an apportionment under this chapter. Such standards
shall consist of equipment costs for each type of classroom or pupil
station which represents a differential in costs. The standards shall
be reviewed quarterly by the board and adjustments made in
accordance with current cost standards. When standards have been
adopted by the board, no apportionment shall be made by the board in
excess of such standards unless a rapid increase in costs warrants an
adjustment.
Before the board approves an application for furniture and
equipment in connection with an application for the replacement of,
reconstruction of, alteration of, or addition to, a school building,
the State Department of Education, after full consideration of all
the furniture and equipment existing in the applicant district that
is in usable condition, shall recommend the amount that shall be
approved in the application. The board may approve all or a portion
of the amount so recommended.
16035. The board may approve, in whole or in part, an application
submitted by a school district under Section 16024 and in such
amount, not exceeding the amount applied for, as the board may deem
appropriate.
The board may, upon approval of the application, in whole or in
part, and subsequently from time to time, make a conditional
apportionment or conditional apportionments not exceeding in the
aggregate the total amount determined by the board, to the applicant
school district from the State School Building Aid Fund for that
portion or portions of the construction project as the board
determines the district is ready to proceed with. If the board has
approved an application and made an apportionment as to a portion or
portions of a construction project, the board may approve the
remaining portion or portions of the construction project and make an
additional apportionment or apportionments within five years after
the original approval without requiring a district to issue
additional bonds. The board may also make an additional apportionment
or apportionments for a period of time in excess of five years after
the original approval without requiring a district to issue
additional bonds if it has made a finding that the additional
apportionment or apportionments are justified by virtue of the fact
that state funds were not available for apportionment within the
two-year period after the original approval because of the inability
of the state to sell authorized state bonds within the maximum
permitted interest rate.
If the board determines that the actual cost is in excess of the
estimated cost of the specific school plant facilities or sites for
which an apportionment to a district has been made, or for which a
district's application has been approved in whole or in part pursuant
to this section, the board may make an additional apportionment to
the district in an amount equal to the excess even though the
additional apportionment will result in the total apportionments to
the district exceeding the amount of the application originally
approved by the board. Before the additional apportionment becomes
final the district, pursuant to Section 16058, shall hold an election
to repay the amount of the additional apportionment which is in
excess of the amount which the district has previously voted to
repay. The additional apportionment shall become final when the
county superintendent of schools transmits to the board and the
Controller a certificate in duplicate stating that the school
district has authorized the acceptance and expenditure of the
necessary amount of the excess. If the additional apportionments are
made by the board within five years after the original approval,
except an apportionment made final pursuant to subdivision (c) of
Section 16058, the district shall not be required to issue additional
bonds.
Except as otherwise provided in this section, all provisions of
this chapter relating to apportionments shall apply to apportionments
made under this section.
Whenever an apportionment has heretofore been made or is hereafter
made to a district for a site and the district heretofore or
hereafter proposes to acquire the site through negotiation or
condemnation but the total acquisition cost thereof, plus all other
costs incidental to either the acquisition or condemnation of the
site, exceeds or exceeded the apportionment for the site, the board
may at any time hereafter make an additional apportionment to provide
for the differential in total acquisition cost without the district
being required to issue additional bonds to qualify, providing the
board finds (1) that it is in the interest of the state to proceed
with the acquisition despite the acquisition costs, and (2) that the
district is unable to provide, or it would be a hardship to require
it to provide, the excess costs. The board may also, in its
discretion, as a condition of making the apportionment, require the
district to repay in full all or any part of the excess
apportionment, under the terms and conditions that the board deems
desirable, and the district shall be empowered and obligated to
comply if it accepts the excess apportionment, notwithstanding any
other law to the contrary; provided, (1) that no the repayment shall
be required from any source that would be exempt from required
contribution toward the cost of a project under Sections 16024 and
16031 (excepting amounts in the General Fund raised by taxes to pay
any judgment requiring the repayment), and (2) that any portion of
the apportionment not required to be repaid in full, shall be
repayable in the same manner as a construction apportionment.
Approval of an application under this section shall not be
construed as creating or implying any obligation, commitment or
promise on the part of the board or the state to make apportionments
under this chapter.
16036. The board shall, after consultation with the State
Department of Education, establish site cost standards which shall be
used in evaluating the cost in relationship to the size of any site
to be acquired wholly or partially with funds apportioned under this
chapter. In determining the standards, consideration should be given
to the following factors:
(a) The grade level of the school.
(b) The location of the school.
(c) The enrollment to attend the school.
(d) The purchase price of each acre of the site.
(e) The site development cost.
(f) Land use in the area.
16037. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
whenever the board has made an apportionment more than two years
after the original approval of and apportionment for any construction
project, and pursuant to Section 16035 has required the district to
issue additional qualifying bonds as a condition of the
apportionment, the board may continue to make apportionments as it
may consider necessary to complete the approved construction project
without requiring further qualification by the district, provided the
apportionments are made within two years of the date upon which the
additional qualifying bonds were required.
16038. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 16035, if the
board has approved an application for a construction project and has
made an apportionment therefor, the board may make an additional
apportionment or apportionments for a period of time in excess of two
years after the original approval without requiring a district to
issue additional bonds; provided that: (1) the approved project
provides for the structural rehabilitation of an unsafe school
building, and (2) the apportionment is necessary to cover costs
resulting from additional items of work necessary for compliance with
structural safety requirements, and the need for such additional
work was not foreseen at the time of the original apportionment.
16039. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, a
district which applies for an apportionment for the purchase of a
site or for the cost of the preparation of plans and specifications,
which is not a part of a construction project, shall make a separate
application for the site or plans and specifications in the same
manner as prescribed by Section 16024.
All of the provisions of this chapter apply to that application
and apportionment except that:
(a) If the State Department of Education determines that within
five years in the case of an application for an elementary grade
level maintained by the district, or within seven years, in the case
of an application for a high school grade level maintained by the
district, from the date of the application for the site or for the
plans and specifications, there will be sufficient enrollment in the
district, based upon enrollment projection criteria adopted by the
board, to show the need of such site or for the plans and
specifications, it may approve the application. The board may modify
a determination respecting future enrollment in connection with an
application for an elementary grade level maintained by the district
to utilize a period of seven years from the date of the application
if it is necessary to meet the emergency conditions existing in that
certain district due to a rapid increase in the enrollment of pupils,
or due to the scarcity of land within the district, or both. Any
application referred to the board pursuant to this section may be
either approved in whole or in part, not exceeding the amount applied
for, as the board may deem appropriate, pursuant to Sections 16024
and 16035, except that the board may approve additional portions of
an application and make an additional apportionment or apportionments
within five years of the original approval without requiring a
district to issue additional bonds. No additional approval pursuant
to the original application or apportionment thereunder may be made
unless the board first has investigated and determined the necessity
of the additional approval or apportionment, and has received a
report thereon from the State Department of Education. Any provision
of Section 16024 inconsistent with this section does not apply to
that application. As used in this section, an "elementary grade level
maintained by the district" is a grade level composed of the grades
and maintained by the districts specified in clause (1) of
subdivision (e) of Section 16002. As used in this section a "high
school grade level maintained by the district" is a grade level
composed of the grades and maintained by the districts specified in
clause (2) of subdivision (e) of Section 16002.
(b) Section 16007 does not apply.
(c) An application for a site pursuant to this section may include
an amount for the preparation of plans and specifications for school
facilities and for the development of the site, which will conform
to those eligible for construction under this chapter.
(d) If the application is approved and an apportionment granted
therefor the district shall repay the full amount of the
apportionment and the interest thereon. The repayment of the
apportionment for a site and the interest thereon, may be over a
period of years, not to exceed 30 years from the first day of January
of the fiscal year next succeeding the fiscal year in which the
apportionment became final. The repayment of the apportionment for
plans and specifications, and the interest thereon, may be over a
period of years, not to exceed 30 years from the first day of January
of the second fiscal year succeeding the fiscal year in which such
apportionment became final. The number of years allowed for repayment
shall be determined by the board at the time it fixes interest on
the apportionment. The repayment is in addition to any other
repayment required under this chapter. If an apportionment is granted
pursuant to this section for a site and the site is subsequently
used in a construction project for which an apportionment is received
under other provisions of this chapter, or if an apportionment is
granted pursuant to this section for plans and specifications and the
plans and specifications are subsequently used in a construction
project for which an apportionment is received under other provisions
of this chapter, the district shall not be required to make any
further repayments for the site, or the plans and specifications, as
the case may be, pursuant to this section and the unpaid balance of
the apportionment and interest owing on the apportionment for the
site, or the plans and specifications, as the case may be, pursuant
to this section shall be added to the principal amount of the
apportionment and accrued interest thereon for the construction
project. The site is "subsequently used in a construction project"
within the meaning of the preceding sentence, if it is used in
connection with a construction project at the same grade level by any
district receiving a construction apportionment therefor, as this is
not intended as a change in the present law, but as a statement of
the existing law. In addition, the site is "subsequently used in a
construction project" within the meaning of that reference, if it is
used in connection with the construction project by any district
receiving a construction apportionment therefor at a different grade
level, providing that in the latter instance the board in its
discretion consents by resolution to the combination of the site and
construction apportionments.
16039.5. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 16039, if the
board has made apportionments pursuant to the section for purchase of
a site or preparation of plans and specifications and the district
after January 1, 1977, (1) begins construction on the site of
facilities which are justified by the maximum building areas set
forth in Sections 16047, 16052, 16053, and 16054, or (2) uses the
plans and specifications for the construction of the facilities
using, in any case, funds other than an apportionment, the site or
plans and specifications shall be deemed to be "subsequently used in
a construction project" within the meaning of Section 16039. In these
cases, the balance of the principal amount of the apportionment for
the site or plans and specifications, and accrued interest thereon,
shall not be payable pursuant to Section 16039, but shall be added by
the Controller to, and become a part of, any apportionment for
construction pursuant to Section 16041, as if an apportionment had
been made for the construction and had become final upon the date
construction began.
16040. In any month in which the priority point procedures
prescribed by Section 16007 are utilized, the board may apportion to
school districts, under Section 16039, not more than the sum of four
hundred thousand dollars ($400,000); provided that any amount
apportioned or made final pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
16058 shall not be subject to the limitation.
16041. If an apportionment is or has been made at any time after
September 9, 1953, for construction on a site for which an
apportionment was made pursuant to Section 16039, from and after the
date the apportionment for construction becomes, or became, final, no
repayment deductions by the Controller pursuant to Section 16080
attributable to the apportionment for the site shall thereafter be
made, except that any the repayment deductions attributable to the
site apportionment which would otherwise be made by the Controller
during the fiscal year in which the construction apportionment
becomes final shall be made during the fiscal year only. The balance
of the principal amount of the apportionment for the site, and
accrued interest thereon, shall be added by the Controller to and
become part of the apportionment for construction, as of the date of
the apportionment, and repaid in the manner otherwise prescribed by
this article. The Controller shall promptly notify the governing
board of the district and the county auditor of the county, the
county superintendent of which has jurisdiction over the district, of
any revision required by this section of any previous computation
made by him or her pursuant to Section 16089.
16042. In addition to any powers granted the board under this
chapter, the board shall have authority to make apportionments to
school districts for the purchase of sites and construction or
purchase of temporary and portable buildings thereon, or for the
construction alone, and for the cost of site preparation, including
necessary utility costs, in connection with their utilization. The
board may establish standards in conjunction with the State
Department of Education pertaining to said sites and facilities as a
condition of making the apportionments.
In addition, the board may expend moneys from the State School
Building Aid Fund directly for the construction, acquisition,
storage, maintenance and repair of the buildings, and administrative
costs relating thereto. In the event the board may lease, sell or
transfer under a lease-purchase agreement the buildings to eligible
school districts or to county superintendents of schools. Any
agreements with school districts may provide for the payment by the
state of site preparation costs, including necessary utility costs,
sufficient to permit the utilization of the facilities. Any building
leased for placement on the school property or under a purchase or a
lease-purchase agreement shall be deemed the construction or
alteration of a school building as those terms are defined in
Sections 17280 to 17313, inclusive. The consideration payable by
either school districts or county superintendents for the facilities
shall, as nearly as practicable, reflect an amount which would render
to the state a fair return, as determined by the board, on its
investment in said facilities and expenditures connected with their
utilization, in the light of the benefits conferred by the agreement
pertaining thereto.
The county superintendent of schools may contract with eligible
school districts respecting and transfer to them by lease,
lease-purchase or sale, facilities acquired by him or her from the
board, provided that the agreements are not inconsistent with the
rights of the state under any agreement between the superintendent
and the board respecting the property. Repayments to the state as due
shall be made by the county superintendent from the funds received
from the affected school districts, and, if necessary to make the
same when due, from the county school service fund, upon which he or
she is authorized to draw requisitions for this purpose. The fund
shall be reimbursed for the withdrawals from any payments made by the
affected districts to the county superintendent not required when
made for the discharge of any obligations of the county
superintendent hereunder to the state.
No transfer of any property acquired directly by the board to any
school district by lease or otherwise shall be made either by the
board or county superintendents without the approval of the State
Department of Education solely as to (1) the property to be
transferred, including incidental construction, if any, connected
therewith, (2) whether the same shall be by lease or sale, and (3) if
less than a sale, the term of the lease, including any contingent or
indefinite term.
The board, affected school districts, and county superintendents
of schools are authorized to do any and all things necessary to carry
out the purposes of this section. Payments required of any affected
school districts under any agreement entered into pursuant to this
section shall be made promptly when due. Whenever the board deems it
economically desirable in the state's interest to do so, it may
dispose of any facilities directly acquired by it to any public or
private parties in the manner and under the terms as it deems best,
providing that the disposition is not inconsistent with any
agreements previously entered into under this section.
The term "eligible school districts" as used in this section,
shall be deemed to refer to those districts which at the time an
agreement contemplated hereunder is entered into would upon proper
application have been eligible to receive an apportionment under this
chapter, provided that solely for the purpose of determining the
eligibility the board, or the county superintendent of schools in
agreements with districts hereunder, may waive construction area
restrictions pertaining to apportionments under this chapter.
16043. If, after a conditional apportionment has been made to a
school district, legal proceedings initiated prior or subsequent to
the making of any conditional apportionment prevent the taking,
within the period during which the conditional apportionment remains
effective under Section 16024, of the actions necessary to permit the
conditional apportionment to become final, the conditional
apportionment shall nevertheless remain effective for a period of
nine months from the date upon which such legal proceedings are
finally determined. The amount of the apportionment may be diminished
by the board after a second investigation at which the board shall
determine whether conditions existing at the time it approved the
project for which apportionment was made have so changed that the
needs of the district are less than originally determined, and if so,
the conditional apportionment shall be reduced by a corresponding
amount.
16044. No apportionment shall be made for new construction which,
when added to the area of adequate school construction existing in
the applicant school district at the time of application, will
provide a total area of school building construction per unit of
average daily attendance of the estimated average daily attendance in
excess of that computed in accordance with Sections 16047, 16052,
16053, 16054, and 16055.
As used in Sections 16047, 16052, 16053, 16054, and 16055,
"maximum area" means maximum area of school building construction and
"attendance unit" means unit of estimated average daily attendance.
As used in this section and Sections 16053, 16054, and 16055,
"attendance center" means a school maintained or to be maintained at
a given location within a district. The State Department of Education
shall approve or disapprove the allocation by an applicant district
of units of estimated average daily attendance among the attendance
centers of the district.
To the building area permitted to an applicant school district by
Sections 16047, 16052, 16053, 16054, and 16055, there may be added
any additional building area that may be required to provide adequate
facilities for exceptional children pursuant to Article 3
(commencing with Section 16190) of this chapter.
No estimate of average daily attendance made by an applicant for
the purpose of justifying an apportionment shall be made for a longer
time than the third fiscal year beyond the fiscal year in which an
application is made, except that an estimate for the purpose of
justifying an apportionment for a grade level maintained by a unified
district, under an application filed prior to September 15, 1961, or
by a high school district composed of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, 9
to 12, inclusive, or 7 to 10, inclusive, or of justifying an
apportionment for a unified district for a junior high school or high
school project under an application made on or after the effective
date shall not be made for a longer time than the fourth fiscal year
beyond the fiscal year in which the application is made. Except as
otherwise provided by the board, the estimates of average daily
attendance shall be based upon the number of family dwellings and
mobilehome parks, as defined in Section 18214 of the Health and
Safety Code, under construction or newly constructed and never
occupied in the district and the number of children residing in the
district. In no case shall an estimate be given effect unless
approved by the board.
For the purposes of this chapter pupils attending grades 7 and 8
in an elementary district but residing in a high school district
which maintains one or more junior high schools shall not be
considered in determining or estimating the average daily a