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Consultant urges district to "get in line" for Prop 2 modernization and construction funds
Summary
A consultant from Hancock Park & DeLong briefed the board on state school facility funding under Proposition 2, explained eligibility calculations and timelines and recommended the district establish site eligibility and apply now for modernization funds.
Jessica Love of Hancock Park & DeLong told the board the district should establish site-specific eligibility and apply for state modernization and new-construction funding created by Proposition 2. Love said the state program requires districts to document site eligibility, submit plans to the Division of the State Architect and the California Department of Education, and often wait years for funding; she advised districts to "get in line" for eligibility because there is an existing wait list for modernization funds.
Love summarized the Prop 2 funding picture presented to districts during statewide stakeholder meetings: roughly $3.3 billion for new construction and $4.0 billion for modernization, with additional set-asides for charter schools, career-technical education and supplemental grants (including funding to expand or bring undersized facilities up to minimum essential facility standards, and new transitional-kindergarten classroom supplements). She said modernization grants are calculated site-by-site and are typically a 60/40 state/district split, and that site eligibility often depends on facility age and enrollment calculations.
Love advised beginning the eligibility documentation process for sites that already have DSA-approved projects (she cited completed projects at Green Hills as potential candidates) and noted timelines can be long: applications can take roughly three years to be processed and, if funding isn't immediately available, projects are placed on a received list. The consultant also noted a separate facility-hardship program exists for disaster or seismic remediation and additional funding for lead-in-water testing will be part of Prop 2 implementation.
Board members asked site-specific questions (multipurpose-room and kitchen/gym size issues at Oak Hills/Ridgeview were discussed), the board reiterated plans to prioritize low-hanging fruit (Green Hills site projects) and said it intends to direct the facilities committee to finalize a prioritized list of modernization projects and work with staff to submit eligibility documents.
Ending The board did not take action but directed staff to pursue eligibility documentation for priority sites and to pack eligible projects for submission to state review.
