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Audit: $7.4 billion needed for California K-12 school repairs

To fill the gap and greenlight badly needed modernization projects, state auditors say voters should pick up the tab by approving a bond measure.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CN) — To retrofit California’s crumbling classrooms, a new state audit released Thursday predicts voters will have to approve over $7.4 billion in bonds to pay for overdue safety and technological upgrades at K-12 schools.

The state auditor foresees a continued flood of funding requests over the next five years from the state’s over 10,500 schools. To meet the growing need, the report says lawmakers will have to rely on voters to clear the backlog and keep the state’s decades-old modernization program solvent.

Created in 1998, the School Facilities Program is tasked with getting out program funds to schools looking to do things like fix plumbing, improve air conditioning systems or finish technological updates. Bond funding can only be used on classrooms or other school structures older than 20 years and applicants must front at least 40% of the cost.

Schools have turned to the program with increasing regularity in recent years and the state began receiving requests it couldn’t fulfill in 2019. In less than three years, auditors claim the backlog has grown to $1.7 billion.

With schools already pressing to improve ventilation systems and add other layers of defense against Covid-19, auditors tried to give lawmakers an idea of how much modernization funding is needed over the next five years. According to Acting State Auditor Michael Tilden, districts will request at least an additional $5.7 billion.

Though the state is currently swimming in cash — Governor Gavin Newsom pegs the state’s surplus at a record $45.7 billion — Tilden recommends the Legislature look for additional funding at the ballot box.

Noting the volatile nature of California’s tax scheme and notorious swings in revenue, Tilden says relying on bonds is a safer bet for making sure school projects reach the finish line.

“To meet school districts' ongoing needs bond funding is still preferable to direct funding through the annual state budget, which is subject to annual fluctuations in the economy,” Tilden said.

However, convincing voters to open up the vault for schools isn’t always a cinch; in 2020, voters rejected the largest proposed school construction bond in state history. Failed Proposition 13 would have divvied up $15 billion for K-12 and higher education modernization projects. In addition, various other school bond proposals failed at the local level.  

Aside from putting bond proposals on the statewide ballot, the audit urges lawmakers to consider changing how the program administers cash. It says tweaks are needed to give lower-income schools a better chance at benefitting from the program.

Because applicants must prove they can fund 40% of the project, Tilden says the program is inequitable by nature.  

“The allocation board and the [project’s] first‑come, first‑served approach to reviewing and approving modernization projects disadvantages those districts that cannot fund their local share of project costs,” the audit continues. “Financially challenged districts can be left waiting for state funds, unnecessarily delaying improvements to their facilities.”

Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell, chair of the Assembly Education Committee, said "many of the auditor's recommendations have merit" and added he's pushing legislation that would place another K-14 bond on the November statewide ballot. In addition, he said the state is already taking steps to help underfunded districts navigate the construction funding process.

"Overall, the report also confirms the great need for more facilities funding,” said O'Donnell, D-Long Beach.  

Updating schools is a high-priority concern as studies have tied poor building conditions to increased absenteeism and dropout rates along with poor health outcomes like asthma and allergies.  

While they tried to accurately survey the overall nature of California’s classrooms, auditors noted the state doesn’t have a database on the age of school buildings. The lack of a centralized system makes it hard for the program — and lawmakers — to predict the real school modernization need.

Going forward, Tilden suggests lawmakers seek the $7.4 billion in bonds and order the program to use new criteria to make the process more equitable for financially challenged districts.

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Categories / Education, Regional

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