BILL NUMBER: AB 1622	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Eng

                        FEBRUARY 8, 2012

   An act to add Section 17463.8 to the Education Code, relating to
school property.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1622, as introduced, Eng. School property: San Marino Unified
School District.
   Existing law requires the funds derived from the sale of surplus
property to be used for capital outlay or for costs of maintenance of
school district property that the governing board of the school
district determines will not recur within a 5-year period. Existing
law authorizes the proceeds from a lease of school district property
with an option to purchase to be deposited into a restricted fund for
the routine repair of district facilities, as defined, for up to a
5-year period. Existing law, in addition, authorizes the proceeds
from the sale or lease with option to purchase to be deposited in the
general fund of the district if the school district governing board
and the State Allocation Board determine that the district has no
anticipated need for additional sites or building construction for
the 10-year period following the sale or lease with option to
purchase, and the district has no major deferred maintenance
requirements and requires those proceeds to be used for one-time
expenditures, and prohibits their use for ongoing expenditures,
including, but not limited to, salaries and other general operating
expenses.
   Existing law, notwithstanding the provisions above, authorizes a
school district to deposit the proceeds from the sale of surplus real
property, together with any personal property located on the
property, purchased entirely with local funds, into the general fund
of the school district and to use the proceeds for any one-time
general fund purpose.
   This bill would authorize the San Marino Unified School District
to sell the site of the former Stoneman Elementary School to the City
of San Marino and use the proceeds from the sale for school district
education programs.
   This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to
the necessity of a special statute for the City of San Marino and the
San Marino Unified School District.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
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 Education Code generally restricts a school district's use
of proceeds received from the sale of surplus property to capital
outlay purposes or maintenance that will not recur within a five-year
period unless the Legislature grants exceptions for specific
transactions.
   (b) In March 2011, the City of San Marino entered into a 99-year
lease agreement with the San Marino Unified School District for the
site of the former Stoneman Elementary School. The school district
has not used the site as an elementary school since 1983. Instead,
the site has been used primarily, and exclusively in recent years, by
the City of San Marino for recreation classes, preschool, child
care, and other such programs. Currently, an estimated 12,000 people,
almost equivalent to the population of the City of San Marino,
participate in activities through, or that are scheduled as a result
of, the city's use of the Stoneman facility.
   (c) The 99-year lease agreement between the City of San Marino and
the San Marino Unified School District for the Stoneman property is
widely considered a strategic step to simultaneously maintain the
Stoneman site as a community resource for residents of the City of
San Marino and surrounding areas and provide needed funds for public
education for pupils who attend schools in the district.
   (d) The lease agreement provides that if the San Marino Unified
School District is able to convey title to the city, the school
district will receive from the city one million dollars ($1,000,000)
to be used for general fund public education purposes, as well as
accelerated payment of the amounts that would otherwise be payable as
lease payments, provided that the school district is able to obtain
a provision of law permitting that use.
   (e) This sale would provide the City of San Marino with the
assurance of title that would enable the city to move forward in the
future with additional use and development of the Stoneman property
for recreational and other facilities that would substantially
benefit the San Marino Unified School District and secure the use of
the property for critical community services. Conveyance of title to
the City of San Marino would create the opportunity for the long-term
development of the site into a community center and recreation
complex, which has received the endorsement of the school district
because public school pupils would be the beneficiaries of the
facilities, as would residents of the area.
   (f) The proposed sale has received unanimous support and approval
from the governing board of the San Marino Unified School District,
the City Council of San Marino, and numerous other community groups.
   (g) The proposed sale would allow the City of San Marino to take
title to, and allow for the development of, the Stoneman site for the
substantial benefit of the community and would provide the San
Marino Unified School District with needed funds for its education
programs.
  SEC. 2.  Section 17463.8 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   17463.8.  Notwithstanding any other law, the San Marino Unified
School District may sell the site of the former Stoneman Elementary
School to the City of San Marino and use the proceeds from the sale
for its education programs.
  SEC. 3.  The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is
necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the
meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution
because of the unique needs of the City of San Marino and the San
Marino Unified School District regarding the property to be sold.