General Information
Assembly Bill 127, Chapter 35, Statutes of 2006, (Nunez/Perata) enacted the Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of 2006. This bill establishes the Career Technical Education Facilities Program (CTEFP) and provides $500,000,000 to fund the program. The purpose of CTEFP is to provide funding to qualifying school districts and joint powers authorities (JPA) for the purpose of constructing new facilities or reconfiguring existing facilities to integrate Career Technical Education (CTE) programs into high schools.
CTE provides a program of study that involves a multi-year sequence of courses that integrates core academic knowledge with technical and occupation knowledge to provide students with a pathway to postsecondary education and careers. The California Department of Education (CDE) currently recognizes 15 industry sectors; each sector contains several pathways. A complete guide may be found under the adopted Career Technical Education Framework on the CDE Web site.
The CTEFP is a 50-50 program, meaning the applicant must provide a matching contribution equal to the State grant. All applicants must have an active career technical advisory committee pursuant to the Education Code Section 8070. A school district can apply for New Construction or Modernization funding if their facility is a Comprehensive High School as defined by the Education Code. A JPA can apply for modernization funding if they were operating a career technical education program(s) as of May 20, 2006. Applicants are eligible to receive funding without requiring New Construction or Modernization eligibility to participate. A new construction or modernization project can include CTE equipment or consist solely of equipment with an average useful life expectancy of 10 years. The CTE plans must have been reviewed by CDE, contain all mandatory elements required by CDE, and received a score of at least 105 points to be eligible for funding. New Construction and Modernization projects are apportioned during the same funding cycles and out of the same fund. They are distinguished by the scope of work and have individual funding caps.
New Construction Projects
- The maximum grant is $3 million per project per school site.
- The project can be a part of a qualifying SFP new construction application. If so, the facility must be located at the same school site as the SFP project.
- The project can be a stand-alone project.
Modernization Projects
- The maximum grant is $1.5 million per project per school site.
- Eligible modernization projects can include reconfiguration, or remodeling existing building within current confines or minimally expanding of the square footage of an existing building.
Application Requirements
There are two options available when submitting an application for funding. The first option is to request full funding if the project is "construction-ready". A "construction-ready" project must have plans and specifications approved by the Division of State Architect (DSA) and CDE prior to submitting a funding application. The second option is to submit the project as a reservation of funds if the project is not "construction-ready". The CTEFP funds can be reserved up to 12 months. If the application consists solely of equipment, DSA and CDE approvals may not be required. The applicant must submit all the following information to OPSC to be given consideration for funding.
Documents required for reservation of funds:
Documents required for full funding:
- Form SAB 50-10
- CDE CTE score letter
- Copy of the submitted CDE grant application
- Facility Plan Approval letter from CDE, School Facilties Planning Division*
- DSA approved Plans and Specifications*
- DSA approval letter*
- Detailed cost estimate of proposed site development*
- Detailed construction cost estimate*
- Itemized list of equipment including cost*
- A CTEFP Funding Availability Worksheet is required if the applicant is requesting a loan.
*These documents may not be required in some cases.
After the project has been apportioned as a reservation of funds, the applicant has 12 months from the apportionment date to submit the necessary documents to complete the project submittal. For these projects, one or all of the following documents may be required depending on the scope of the project:
- Plan Approval letter from CDE School Facilities Planning Division
- DSA-approved Plans and Specifications and DSA Plan Approval Letter
- Detailed construction cost estimate (updated based on approved plans)
- Detailed cost estimate for site development (updated based on approved plans)
- Itemized list of equipment including cost
Loan Request
If matching funds are not immediately available to the applicant, the applicant may enter into a loan agreement with the OPSC on behalf of the SAB for all or part of the required match. The loan repayment term will be ten years with interest. All repaid funds will be re-deposited into the CTEFP fund. The interest rate is determined by the Pooled Money Investment Board. The interest starts accruing on the fund release date. If the applicant is not be able to pay within that time period, a one time request for a five year extension is possible provided it is approved by the board. To request a loan, a CTEFP Funding Availability Worksheet must be completed and submitted with the Form SAB 50-10. Non-Financial Hardship districts will need to submit complete "Financial Hardship Fund Worksheet" for each fund of the district that contains any capital facility related funding.
Fund Release
CTEFP projects are subject to the same fund release requirements as SFP New Construction or Modernization projects. Funds that have been apportioned by the Board will be released after submittal of the Fund Release (Form SAB 50-05).
- If the application is apportioned for full funding, the applicant must submit the Form SAB 50-05 within 18 months of apportionment.
- If CTEFP funds were reserved, the applicant has 12 months from the date of apportionment to submit the necessary approvals and/or plans and specifications to the OPSC. The 18-month time limit on the fund release commences upon receipt and approval of the documents required to complete the project.
- If the applicant is requesting a loan for the entire matching share, 10 percent of the State grant will be released within 30 days of apportionment.
Closeout
With a few important exceptions, a CTEFP project will be subject to all SFP progress and auditing standards. A substantial progress report will be required at 18 months from the date the final apportionment was made. Annual expenditure reports will be required beginning one year from the date of the first fund release until the project is complete. The project is considered complete when four years elapse from the date of the fund release for a high school project, or when the school district declares the project complete, at which time final expenditure reports must be submitted.
- It is important to keep the following exceptions in mind:
Savings cannot be retained on a CTEFP project. Any unexpended funds must be returned to the State.
- CTEFP projects are not required to meet the 60% commensurate requirement.
Accountability
All applications are subject to substantial progress and accountability expenditure audit. All CTE related work is not subject to the 60 percent commensurate requirement that applies to SFP new construction and modernization projects. This obligation requires districts to demonstrate that the cost estimate of the proposed construction work in the project must be at least 60 percent of the combined state and local matching share for the project, less site acquisition costs. Project savings cannot be retained. All unused funds must be returned to the State. CTEFP funds rescinded or returned shall be made available for apportionment in subsequent cycles.
Funding Order
Within each funding cycle, the funding priority will be based on the numerical score for the applicant's CTE grant application as determined by CDE and the locale of each project. The locale for each project shall be Urban, Suburban or Rural, as determined by the National Center for Education Statistics. In the first two cycles funds available shall be distributed proportionately to the eleven California County Superintendents Educational Services Association Service Regions (CCSESA) based on the current high school enrollment within each Service Region. In subsequent cycles, any remaining CTEFP funds will be pooled and may be apportioned based on the score and locale of each project, regardless of Service Region. The process will continue as described above until all applications or funds are exhausted. Unfunded CTEFP applications will be returned to the applicants.
Third Funding Cycle Deadlines
- CTE grant applications must be submitted to the CDE no later than September 18, 2009.
- Grant application scores will be published by CDE in February 2010.
- Application for Career Technical Education Facilities Funding (SAB Form 50-10) must be received at the OPSC by close of business March 31, 2010.
To learn more about each type of new construction and modernization projects for the Career Technical Education Facilities Program, please refer to the School Facility Program Handbook.
Contacts
For assistance, please contact your OPSC Project Manager.
CTEFP Apportioned Funding Applications
To check the status of your funding application apportioned in the first or second funding cycle, please go to the Project Tracking System section of the OPSC website.
Quarterly CTE Facilities Reports
Senate Bill (SB) 13 (Chapter 519, Statutes of 2007) added Section 17070.52 to the California Education Code (EC). As part of seeking plan approval for a new construction project, local education agencies (LEA) are required to report to the California Department of Education (CDE) on whether CTE facilities will be provided in a project. If not, explain how the CTE facility needs of the students housed in the project will be met. The LEA's report must include when their CTE advisory committee was consulted. The EC Section also requires the CDE to provide quarterly reports detailing the submitted information to the OPSC. In turn, the OPSC must post each report on the website when they become available.
Additional Information can be found under the CDE's CTE Program webpage.
