Volume I, No. 19

March 26, 2009

Critically Overcrowded Schools Money

By Duwayne Brooks

On March 25, the State Allocation Board (SAB) authorized the transfer of $700 million from the 2002 Critically Overcrowded Schools (COS) Program to the School Facilities Program New Construction Fund. The transfer will occur only after all prior authorized bonds have been apportioned. In addition to the $700 million, the SAB reserved $140.7 million in COS funds for three months after which time staff will present options to the SAB regarding the use of the $140.7 million.

By law, projects funded from Propositions 47 and 55 require the district to initiate and enforce or contract with a third party to initiate and enforce a Labor Compliance Program. Projects funded from Proposition 1D are not subject to that same requirement. Since school districts cannot be assured from which proposition their project will be funded the transfer of the COS funds could cause some confusion on the part of school districts. Therefore, the Office of Public School Construction will warn school districts that have applications pending SAB approval that may receive an apportionment from Proposition 47 or 55 that they should carefully consider initiating and enforcing Labor Compliance Programs approved by the Department of Industrial Relations for those projects.