BILL NUMBER: SB 132 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 13, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 11, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 27, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Senator Lowenthal
JANUARY 27, 2011
An act to amend Sections 17211 and 17251 of, and to add Section
17070.31 to, the Education Code, and to amend Section 13102 of the
Government Code, relating to school facilities.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 132, as amended, Lowenthal. School facilities: state planning
priorities.
(1) Existing law sets forth state planning priorities that are
intended to promote equity, strengthen the economy, protect the
environment, and promote public health and safety in the state. Those
priorities are as follows: (a) to promote infill development and
equity by rehabilitating, maintaining, and improving existing
infrastructure that supports infill development and appropriate reuse
and redevelopment of previously developed, underutilized land, (b)
to protect environmental and agricultural resources by protecting,
preserving, and enhancing the state's most valuable natural
resources, and (c) to encourage efficient development patterns by
ensuring that any infrastructure associated with development, other
than infill development, supports new development that meets
prescribed criteria.
Under the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 (hereafter
the Greene Act), the State Allocation Board is charged with the
allocation of state funds to school districts for the acquisition of
schoolsites and the construction and modernization of schools.
This bill would require the State Allocation Board, on or before
July 1, 2012, to review the guidelines, rules, regulations,
procedures, and policies for the modernization of school
facilities adopted for implementation of the Greene Act to
ensure they reflect the state planning priorities referenced above
and to revise those guidelines, rules, regulations ,
procedures, and policies as necessary.
(2) Existing law requires the State Department of Education, among
other things, to advise the governing board of a school district on
the acquisition of new schoolsites, to develop standards for use by a
school district in the selection of schoolsites, and to establish
standards for use by school districts to ensure that the design and
construction of school facilities are educationally appropriate and
promote school safety. Existing law requires the governing board of a
school district, before commencing the acquisition of real property
for a new schoolsite or an addition to an existing schoolsite, to
evaluate the property using the standards developed by the
department.
This bill would require the site selection standards and the
design and construction standards developed by the department to
reflect the state planning priorities and would require the governing
board of a school district to consider whether a new schoolsite or
addition reflects the state planning priorities. The bill would
require the department to consider,
among other things, the state planning priorities in prioritizing the
list of recommended school locations provided by the department to
the school district.
(3) Existing law requires the Governor to submit annually a
proposed 5-year infrastructure plan to the Legislature in conjunction
with the Governor's Budget. Existing law requires this
infrastructure plan to include a proposal for funding the
infrastructure that includes criteria and priorities used to identify
and select the infrastructure proposed to be funded.
This bill would require the infrastructure plan to include
information, to be provided to the Governor by the State Department
of Education and the State Allocation Board, on the extent to which
the department's site selection standards and design and construction
standards and the board adopted guidelines, rules, regulations,
procedures, and policies for the construction and
modernization of school facilities are consistent with the state
planning priorities.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) The state planning priorities are intended to promote equity,
strengthen the economy, protect the environment, and promote public
health and safety. The state planning priorities promote infill
development and equity by rehabilitating, maintaining, and improving
existing infrastructure, protect environmental and agricultural
resources, and encourage efficient development patterns.
(b) High-quality schools serve as the cornerstone of sustainable
and healthy communities. The quality and location of schools affect
local land use and transportation patterns, community vitality,
economic development, and, most importantly, pupil outcomes.
(c) The state makes a significant investment in the construction
and modernization of school facilities and seeks to ensure that this
investment is consistent with state infrastructure goals.
(d) In order to achieve the state's economic and environmental
goals, it is essential that the state school facility construction
investment reflect state planning priorities.
SEC. 2. Section 17070.31 is added to the Education Code, to read:
17070.31. On or before July 1, 2012, the board shall review the
guidelines, rules, regulations, procedures, and policies for the
construction and modernization of school
facilities adopted pursuant to this chapter to ensure that they
reflect the state planning priorities set forth in Section 65041.1 of
the Government Code and shall revise them as necessary.
SEC. 3. Section 17211 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17211. Before commencing the acquisition of real property for a
new schoolsite or an addition to an existing schoolsite, the
governing board of a school district shall evaluate the property at a
public hearing using the site selection standards established by the
department pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 17251. The
governing board of a school district shall consider whether the new
schoolsite or addition reflects the state planning priorities set
forth in Section 65041.1 of the Government Code. The governing board
may direct the district's advisory committee established pursuant to
Section 17388 to evaluate the property pursuant to those site
selection standards and to report its findings to the governing board
at the public hearing.
SEC. 4. Section 17251 of the Education Code is amended to read:
17251. The State Department of Education shall do all of the
following:
(a) Upon the request of the governing board of a school district,
advise the governing board on the acquisition of new schoolsites and,
after a review of available plots, give the governing board in
writing a list of the recommended locations in the order of their
merit, considering especially the matters of educational merit,
safety, reduction of traffic hazards, the state planning
priorities set forth in Section 65041.1 of the Government Code,
and conformity to the land use element in the general plan of the
city, county, or city and county having jurisdiction. The governing
board may purchase a site deemed unsuitable for school purposes by
the department only after reviewing the department's report on
proposed sites at a public hearing. The department shall charge the
school district a reasonable fee for each schoolsite reviewed not to
exceed the actual administrative costs incurred for that purpose.
(b) Develop standards for use by a school district in the
selection of schoolsites, in accordance with the objectives set forth
in subdivision (a). The standards shall reflect the state planning
priorities set forth in Section 65041.1 of the Government Code. The
department shall investigate complaints of noncompliance with site
selection standards and shall notify the governing board of the
results of the investigation. If that notification is received before
the acquisition of the site, the governing board shall discuss the
findings of the investigation in a public hearing.
(c) Establish standards for use by school districts to ensure that
the design and construction of school facilities are educationally
appropriate and promote school safety. The standards shall reflect
the state planning priorities set forth in Section 65041.1 of the
Government Code.
(d) Upon the request of the governing board of a school district,
review plans and specifications for school buildings in the district.
The department shall charge the school district, for the review of
plans and specifications, a reasonable fee not to exceed the actual
administrative costs incurred for that purpose.
(e) Upon the request of the governing board of a school district,
make a survey of the building needs of the district, advise the
governing board concerning the building needs, and suggest plans for
financing a building program to meet the needs. The department shall
charge the school district, for the cost of the survey, a reasonable
fee not to exceed the actual administrative costs incurred for that
purpose.
(f) Provide information relating to the impact or potential impact
upon any schoolsite of hazardous substances, solid waste, safety,
hazardous air emissions, and other information as the department may
deem appropriate.
SEC. 5. Section 13102 of the Government Code is amended to read:
13102. In conjunction with the Governor's Budget submitted
pursuant to Section 13337, the Governor shall submit annually a
proposed five-year infrastructure plan to the Legislature. This plan
shall cover a five-fiscal-year period beginning with the fiscal year
that is the same as that covered by the Governor's Budget with which
it is being submitted.
The infrastructure plan shall contain the following information
for the five years that it covers:
(a) (1) Identification of new, rehabilitated, modernized,
improved, or renovated infrastructure requested by state agencies.
(2) Aggregate funding for transportation as identified in the
four-year State Transportation Improvement Program Fund Estimate
prepared pursuant to Sections 14524 and 14525.
(3) Infrastructure needs for kindergarten through grade 12 public
schools necessary to accommodate increased enrollment, class size
reduction, and school modernization.
(4) The instructional and instructional support facilities needs
for the University of California, the California State University,
and the California Community Colleges.
(b) The estimated cost of providing the infrastructure identified
in subdivision (a).
(c) A proposal for funding the infrastructure identified in
subdivision (a), that includes all of the following:
(1) Criteria and priorities used to identify and select the
infrastructure it does propose to fund, including criteria used to
identify and select infrastructure that by January 1, 2005, shall be
consistent with the state planning priorities specified pursuant to
Section 65041.1 for infrastructure requested by state agencies
pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).
(2) Sources of funding, including, but not limited to, General
Fund, state special funds, federal funds, general obligation bonds,
lease revenue bonds, and installment purchases.
(3) An evaluation of the impact of the new state debt on the state'
s existing overall debt position if the plan proposes the issuance of
new state debt.
(4) (A) Recommended specific projects for funding or the
recommended type and amount of infrastructure to be funded in order
to meet programmatic objectives that shall be identified in the
proposal.
(B) Any capital outlay or local assistance appropriations intended
to fund infrastructure included in the Governor's Budget shall
derive from, and be encompassed by, the funding proposal contained in
the plan.
(d) Information, to be provided to the Governor by the State
Department of Education and the State Allocation Board, on the extent
to which all of the following are consistent with the state planning
priorities set forth in Section 65041.1:
(1) Guidelines, rules, regulations, procedures, and policies for
the construction and modernization of school
facilities adopted by the State Allocation Board pursuant to Chapter
12.5 (commencing with Section 17070.10) of Part 10 of Division 1 of
Title 1 of the Education Code.
(2) Site selection standards developed by the State Department of
Education for use in the selection of schoolsites.
(3) Standards developed by the State Department of Education for
use by school districts to ensure that the design and construction of
school facilities are educationally appropriate and promote school
safety.