16520-16528

EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 16520-16528




16520.  Apportionment from the State School Construction 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 any of the following purposes:
   (a) The purchase and improvement of schoolsites which have been
approved by the department.
   (b) The purchase of desks, tables, chairs, and equipment, as
approved by the department.
   (c) The planning and construction, reconstruction, alteration of,
and addition to, school buildings for facilities that are approved by
the department as essential, all of which purposes are hereby
declared to be, and are, public works.
   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.




16521.  In addition to the purposes for which apportionments may be
made to school districts under Section 16520, 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.



16522.  In making applications for, and in expending, apportionments
of funds under this chapter, a 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. Upon the payment
by the district of the amounts required to be paid by it to the state
under this chapter, the board shall, in the name of the state,
convey the property to the district.



16523.  The board may require school districts to insure for the
benefit of the state all sites, equipment, and buildings which are
the property of the state, against any risks 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.



16524.  A district shall be eligible to an apportionment under this
chapter if the estimated number of project children and indirect
project children who will be in average daily attendance in the
schools of the district during the period of the state project is at
least 25 and is at least 5 percent of the estimated number of all
children who will be in average daily attendance in the schools of
the district during the current fiscal year.



16525.  Any eligible school district may make application for an
apportionment for a grade level which it maintains by submitting
through the governing board an application therefor in a form and
number that the board shall prescribe. The application shall be
addressed to the board and shall set forth a project for the
construction of school facilities for the district in accordance with
this section.
   (a) Each application and copy thereof shall contain and be
supported by:
   (1) A description of the project and the site therefor,
preliminary drawings of the school facilities to be constructed
thereon, and any other information relating to the project that the
board may require.
   (2) A statement of the estimated cost of the project certified by
an architect or structural engineer.
   (3) Evidence that the district has or will have title to the site
upon which the facilities as specified in the application will be
constructed.
   (4) Assurance that the district will cause the work on the project
to be commenced within a reasonable time and prosecuted to
completion with reasonable diligence.
   (b) The board shall require any changes in the plans which an
applicant school district submits with its application that the board
determines is necessary or desirable to assure completion of the
project with available funds of the district and the amount of the
apportionment to which the district is entitled under this chapter.
For that purpose the board may delegate to the director or the
Director of General Services, according to whether the subject matter
of the revision of the plans is subject to the jurisdiction and
approval of the director or the Director of General Services, the
authority to require any revision in the plans that the board deems
necessary or desirable to accomplish the purposes of this
subdivision.
   (c) Upon submission of an application for an apportionment under
this chapter the Director of General Services shall do each of the
following:
   (1) Transmit a copy of the application to the director who shall
as promptly as possible prepare a report and recommendation with
respect thereto. Thereupon the director shall transmit his or her
report and recommendation to the Director of General Services who
shall refer them to the board if he or she finds them in proper form
and otherwise sufficient. If the Director of General Services finds
the documents to be lacking in any respect as to any matter subject
to the jurisdiction of the director or the department, he or she
shall refer them to the director who shall take any action that may
be necessary.
   (2) Determine the applicant district's financial ability with
funds apportioned under this chapter and funds devoted by the
district to the project to meet the cost of the project and submit
his or her report thereon as promptly as possible to the board.



16526.  At the next regular meeting of the board following the
submission of the reports and recommendations required by Section
16525, the board shall, subject to this chapter, approve or reject
the application. If the board approves the application, it shall by
resolution adopted by it, apportion to the district from the State
School Construction Fund the amount applied for, or any portion
thereof that the board determines proper. This shall be known as a
conditional apportionment and shall become final only if the vote
provided for in Section 16527 is favorable. The conditional
apportionment shall remain in effect for a period of nine months from
the date of the resolution of the board. If the apportionment does
not become final within the time prescribed, it shall become void and
the money so apportioned shall again become available for
apportionment pursuant to this chapter.



16527.  No apportionment to a school district under this chapter
shall become final, nor shall any agreement authorized by Section
16528 be entered into, unless at an election called by the governing
board of the district, two-thirds of the qualified electors of the
district voting thereat have authorized the governing board to
accept, expend, and repay an apportionment as provided in this
chapter or, with respect to an agreement authorized by Section 16528,
to obligate the district in an amount equal to or in excess of the
maximum amount which the district could be obligated by the
agreement, or by any act of its governing board, or for which it is
responsible, contemplated, or permitted under the agreement. The
election shall be called, held, and conducted in the same manner as
are elections to authorize the issuance of district bonds, except
that the ballot shall contain substantially the following words:

   "Shall the governing board of the district be authorized (1) to
accept and expend an apportionment from the State of California under
and subject to the provisions of the State Project Area School
Construction Law, a portion of which amount is subject to repayment
as provided by that law, or (2) to enter into an agreement or
agreements with the state pursuant to Section 16528 of the Education
Code, which will at the time of the agreement or agreements (or at
the time of any subsequent act of the governing board, or for which
it is responsible, contemplated or permitted thereby) commit the
district to a total expenditure in connection with all of these
agreements of not more than ____ dollars, or both. Yes ___ No ___."



16528.  (a) In addition to the powers granted the board under this
chapter, the board shall have authority to do each of the following:
   (1) Make apportionments to districts for the purchase of sites
only, or for the construction or purchase of temporary or portable
buildings, and for the cost of site preparation, including any
necessary utility costs, in connection with their utilization.
   (2) Establish standards in conjunction with the State Department
of Education pertaining to the sites and buildings as a condition for
making the apportionment. In addition the board may also expend
moneys from the State School Construction Fund directly for the
construction, acquisition, storage, maintenance, and repair of the
buildings, including administrative costs related thereto. In the
latter event the board may lease, sell, or transfer under a
lease-purchase agreement the buildings to school districts eligible
for aid under this chapter, under the terms as it deems fit.
Agreements pertaining thereto may provide for the payment by the
state of site preparation costs, including any necessary utility
costs, sufficient to permit their utilization.
   (b) Whenever the board deems it economically desirable to do so
the board may dispose of any facilities acquired or constructed
directly by it under this section to any public or private parties
under the terms and in the manner as the board deems fit, save
insofar as the disposal is inconsistent with any agreement under this
section between the board and an affected district. The board is
authorized to do any and all things necessary to effectuate the
purposes of this section, and any eligible school district is
authorized to enter into an agreement with the board to carry out the
purposes hereof.
   (c) Any buildings 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.
   (d) The consideration provided by any agreement between the state
and districts pursuant to this section shall as nearly as possible
reflect an amount which would return to the state a fair pro rata
proportion of its capital investment and expenditures connected
therewith in the light of the benefits conferred by the agreement.
The consideration shall be paid by the districts promptly when due,
and Section 16573 shall not be deemed applicable to reduce the
consideration, provided that the amounts so repaid shall be
redeposited in the State School Construction Fund.
   (e) No agreement shall be entered into under this section unless
the department has, with respect thereto, or as a condition of making
the agreement, approved each of the following items:
   (1) The property to be transferred, including any incidental
construction pertaining thereto.
   (2) Whether the agreement shall be by lease or sale.
   (3) The term of the transfer, if less than a sale, including any
contingent or indefinite term.
   "Sale" as used in this subdivision includes a lease-purchase
transaction. The jurisdiction of the department shall not otherwise
extend to the terms of the agreement.