The State Allocation Board (Board) met in May to hear a number of business items, including Full-Day Kindergarten Facilities Grant Program apportionments and Career Technical Education Facilities Grant Program unfunded approvals. This was the first meeting administered by the new Chair, Gayle Miller, who was recently appointed chief deputy of policy at the California Department of Finance.
Executive Officer Lisa Silverman provided the following updates:
- Full-Day Kindergarten Facilities Grant Program – Today’s agenda includes apportionments worth $37.5 million for 12 projects for the first funding cycle. The second filing round opened May 1, 2019 and will close May 30, 2019, with $60 million available.
- Military Base Projects Funded – The consent agenda includes the final four projects seeking Board approval for the Muroc Joint Unified School Districts, including two facility hardship and two career technical education projects for Desert Jr./Sr. High School on Edwards Air Force Base. This funding will be used to meet local matching contribution requirements for U.S. Department of Defense facilities grants.
- Career Technical Education Facility Program – Today’s agenda includes unfunded approvals for the fifth funding cycle of the Career Technical Education Facilities Program (CTEFP). These projects will be able to participate in the current Priority Funding Filing Round, which will close on June 6, 2019.
- Current Priority Funding Round – The current filing period began on May 8, 2019 and will close on June 6, 2019. Requests will be valid from July 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019.
- Bond Accountability Audit – On May 1, 2019 the Office of State Audits and Evaluations completed its audit of the status of corrective actions taken by the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC), as a follow-up to the OSAE audit issued August 5, 2016. The Office of State Audits and Evaluations’ (OSAE) determined there will be no additional corrective action plans needed.
Full-Day Kindergarten Facilities Grant Program Apportionments
The Board approved apportionments for the first funding cycle of the Full-Day Kindergarten Facilities Grant Program (FDKFGP) to 12 projects totaling $37.5 million. AB 1808 (2018) provided $100 million for the FDKFGP from the General Fund. This program allows school districts that lack the facilities to provide full-day kindergarten to apply for one-time grants to construct new school facilities or retrofit existing school facilities for the purpose of providing full-day kindergarten classrooms.
OPSC received 261 applications from 72 school districts requesting approximately $324 million. Applications were ranked by preference points based on financial hardship status and the percentage of pupils in the district eligible for Free and Reduced-Price Meals. 11 of the 12 applications requested new construction funding, and one requested retrofit funding. Nine applicants previously offered full-day kindergarten instruction but lacked kindergarten facilities; three will offer full-day kindergarten instruction upon completion of the project.
Career Technical Education Facilities Program Unfunded Approvals
The Board provided unfunded approvals for the fifth funding cycle of the Career Technical Education Facilities Program (CTEFP) to 70 projects totaling $122.4 million. These projects are now placed on the Unfunded List (Lack of AB 55 Loans). Proposition 51 provided $500 million in bond authority for the CTEFP, and a maximum of $125 million was allotted to this funding cycle.
OPSC received 220 applications requesting approximately $405 million for the fifth funding cycle. These applications were ranked by highest career technical education plan score and locale (urban, suburban, and rural).
Career Technical Education Facilities Program Additional Funding Cycle(s)
This item was removed from today’s agenda and not heard. The item sought direction from the State Allocation Board on how to allocate the remaining $250 million in CTEFP funds. A number of representatives from school districts addressed the Board during public comment, asking for all $250 million to be released in the next funding cycle. They described how numerous high scoring projects are still awaiting funds and may never be funded due to the structure of the competitive funding cycles.
School Facility Program Approvals and Workload List
The Board approved Unfunded Approvals (Lack of AB 55 Loans) at the May 22, 2019 meeting worth the following:
- New Construction: $71,072,271.50
- Charter: $15,339,539
- Modernization: $18,949,832
- Facility Hardship/Rehab: $6,385,522.44
- Total: $111,747,164.94
The Unfunded Approvals List (Lack of AB 55 Loans) dated April 24, 2019 contains projects worth $547,882,527.58. These amounts do not include the CTEFP unfunded approvals identified in the previous item.
The Workload List dated April 30, 2019 contains projects worth the following:
- New Construction: $2,222,917,209
- Modernization: $2,505,674,844
- Total: $4,728,592,053
The Acknowledged List dated April 30, 2019 contains projects worth the following:
- New Construction: $320,769,138
- Modernization: $189,679,896
- Total: $510,449,034
The next State Allocation Board meeting is scheduled for June 26, 2019 at 4:00 pm.
