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.
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.
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.
Second Funding Cycle Deadlines
CTE grant applications must be submitted to the CDE no later than February 1, 2008 and the OPSC funding application must be submitted to OPSC no later than April 30, 2008.
Subsequent Funding Cycles
Application deadlines are yet to be determined.
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.
More Information
The OPSC and CDE staff provided a number of workshops on the CTEFP program. If you are/were unable to attend one of the workshops, the Power Point presentations are available by clicking on the following link: CDE and OPSC Presentation on the CTEFP.
