SECTIONS 17071.75-17071.76 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 17071.75-17071.76

17071.75. After a one-time initial report of existing school
building capacity has been completed, the ongoing eligibility of a
school district for new construction funding shall be determined by
making all of the following calculations:
(a) A school district that applies to receive funding for new
construction shall use the following methods to determine projected
enrollment:
(1) A school district that has two or more schoolsites each with a
pupil population density that is greater than 115 pupils per acre in
kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, or a schoolsite pupil
population density that is greater than 90 pupils per acre in grades
7 to 12, inclusive, as determined by the Superintendent using
enrollment data from the California Basic Educational Data System for
the 2004-05 school year, may submit an application for funding for
projects that will relieve overcrowded conditions. That school
district may also submit an alternative enrollment projection for the
fifth year beyond the fiscal year in which the application is made
using a methodology other than the cohort survival enrollment
projection method as defined by the board pursuant to paragraph (2),
to be reviewed by the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of
Finance, in consultation with the department and the Office of Public
School Construction. If the Office of Public School Construction and
the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of Finance jointly
determine that the alternative enrollment projection provides a
reasonable estimate of expected enrollment demand, a recommendation
shall be forwarded to the board to approve or disapprove the
application, in accordance with all of the following:
(A) Total funding for new construction projects using this method
shall be limited to five hundred million dollars ($500,000,000), from
the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of
2004.
(B) The eligibility amount for proposed projects that relieve
overcrowding is the difference between the alternative enrollment
projection method for the year the application is submitted and the
cohort survival enrollment projection method, as defined by paragraph
(2), for the same year, adjusted by the existing pupil capacity in
excess of the projected enrollment according to the cohort survival
enrollment projection method.
(C) The Office of Public School Construction shall determine
whether each proposed project will relieve overcrowding, including,
but not limited to, the elimination of the use of Concept 6
calendars, four track year-round calendars, or busing in excess of 40
minutes, and recommend approval to the board. The number of unhoused
pupil grants requested in the application for funding from the
eligibility determined pursuant to this paragraph shall be limited to
the number of seats necessary to relieve overcrowding, including,
but not limited to, the elimination of the use of Concept 6
calendars, four track year-round calendars, or busing in excess of 40
minutes, less the number of unhoused pupil grants attributed to that
school as a source school in an approved application pursuant to
Section 17078.24.
(D) A school district shall use the same alternative enrollment
projection methodology for all applications submitted pursuant to
this paragraph and shall calculate those projections in accordance
with the same districtwide or high school attendance area used for
the enrollment projection made pursuant to paragraph (2).
(2) A school district shall calculate enrollment projections for
the fifth year beyond the fiscal year in which the application is
made. Projected enrollment shall be determined by utilizing the
cohort survival enrollment projection system, as defined and approved
by the board. The board may supplement the cohort survival
enrollment projection with any of the following:
(A) The number of unhoused pupils that are anticipated as a result
of dwelling units proposed pursuant to approved and valid tentative
subdivision maps.
(B) Modified weighting mechanisms, if the board determines that
they best represent the enrollment trends of the district. Mechanisms
pursuant to this subparagraph shall be developed and applied in
consultation with the Demographic Research Unit of the Department of
Finance.
(C) An adjustment to reflect the effects on kindergarten and first
grade enrollment of changes in birth rates within the school
district or high school attendance area boundaries.
(3) (A) A school district may submit an enrollment projection for
either a 5th year or a 10th year beyond the fiscal year in which the
application is made. A school district that bases its enrollment
projection calculation on a high school attendance area may use pupil
residence in that attendance area to calculate enrollment. A school
district that utilizes pupil residence shall do so for all high
school attendance areas within the district. A pupil shall not be
included in a high school attendance area enrollment projection based
on pupil residence unless that pupil was included in the California
Basic Educational Data System (CBEDS) report of the district for the
same enrollment year. The board may require a district to provide a
reconciliation of the districtwide CBEDS and residency data. The
board also may adopt regulations to specify the format and
certification requirements for a school district that submits
residency data.
(b) (1) Add the number of pupils that may be adequately housed in
the existing school building capacity of the applicant school
district as determined pursuant to Article 2 (commencing with Section
17071.10) to the number of pupils for whom facilities were provided
from any state or local funding source after the existing school
building capacity was determined pursuant to Article 2 (commencing
with Section 17071.10). For this purpose, the total number of pupils
for whom facilities were provided shall be determined using the pupil
loading formula set forth in Section 17071.25.
(2) Subtract from the number of pupils calculated in paragraph (1)
the number of pupils that were housed in facilities to which the
school district or county office of education relinquished title as
the result of a transfer of a special education program between a
school district and a county office of education or special education
local plan area, if applicable. For this purpose, the total number
of pupils that were housed in the facilities to which title was
relinquished shall be determined using the pupil loading formula
adopted by the board pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) of Section 17071.25. For purposes of this paragraph,
title also includes any lease interest with a duration of greater
than five years.
(c) Subtract the number of pupils pursuant to subdivision (b) from
the number of pupils determined pursuant to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a).
(d) The calculations required to establish eligibility under this
article shall result in a distinction between the number of existing
unhoused pupils and the number of projected unhoused pupils.
(e) Apply the increase or decrease resulting from the difference
between the most recent report made pursuant to Section 42268, and
the report used in determining the baseline capacity of the school
district pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 17071.25.
(f) For purposes of calculating projected enrollment pursuant to
subdivision (a), the board may adopt regulations to ensure that the
enrollment calculation of individuals with exceptional needs
receiving special education services is adjusted in the enrollment
reporting period in which the transfer occurs and three previous
school years as a result of a transfer of a special education program
between a school district and a county office of education or a
special education local plan area. However, the projected enrollment
calculation of a county office of education shall only be adjusted if
a transfer of title for the special education program facilities has
occurred. The regulations, if adopted, shall ensure that if a
transfer of title to special education program facilities constructed
with state funds occurs within 10 years after initial occupancy of
the facility, the receiving school district or school districts shall
remit to the state a proportionate share of any financial hardship
assistance provided for the project pursuant to Section 17075.10, if
applicable.
(g) For a school district with an enrollment of 2,500 or less, an
adjustment in enrollment projections shall not result in a loss of
ongoing eligibility to that school district for a period of three
years from the date of the approval of eligibility by the board.

17071.76. (a) Whenever the existing school building capacity in any
high school attendance area prevents another high school attendance
area from receiving the maximum per-unhoused-pupil grant specified
for the school district as a whole, the eligibility may be computed
separately for each high school attendance area.
(b) For the purposes of eligibility, a school district may combine
two or more adjacent high school attendance areas pursuant to the
following conditions:
(1) The funding eligibility is for the construction of a high
school, junior high school, or elementary school located or to be
located in any of those high school attendance areas.
(2) The high school, junior high school, or elementary school to
be constructed is to serve pupils residing in each of those high
school attendance areas.
(3) The combined eligibility reflects the eligibility to which
each of the high school attendance areas would otherwise be entitled,
reflecting the proportion of projected pupil enrollment in the
school to be constructed, as calculated under this chapter, from each
of those attendance areas.
(c) The board may permit an elementary school district that is
located within a high school district to utilize this section to
determine eligibility for funding if all of the following conditions
apply:
(1) The elementary school district average daily attendance is
greater than 20,000 pupils.
(2) The elementary school district maintains at least 37
elementary schools, and the high school district maintains at least
12 high schools.
(3) The elementary school district has geographical boundaries
encompassing more than 100 square miles.