California Education Code Section 17070.75

CA Educ Code § 17070.75 (2017)  

(a) The board shall require the school district to make all necessary repairs, renewals, and replacements to ensure that a project is at all times maintained in good repair, working order, and condition. All costs incurred for this purpose shall be borne by the school district.

(b) In order to ensure compliance with subdivision (a) and to encourage school districts to maintain all buildings under their control, the board shall require an applicant school district to do all of the following before the approval of a project:

(1) Establish a restricted account within the general fund of the school district for the exclusive purpose of providing moneys for ongoing and major maintenance of school buildings, according the highest priority to funding for the purposes set forth in subdivision (a). Funds in the account may be used for drought mitigation purposes related to the implementation of Executive Order B-29-15.

(2) (A) Agree to deposit into the account established pursuant to paragraph (1), in each fiscal year for 20 years after receipt of funds under this chapter, a minimum amount equal to or greater than 3 percent of the total general fund expenditures of the applicant school district, including other financing uses, for that fiscal year.

(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), for the 2015–16 and 2016–17 fiscal years, the minimum amount required to be deposited into the account established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be the lesser of the following amounts:

(i) Three percent of the total general fund expenditures for that fiscal year.

(ii) The amount that the school district deposited into the account in the 2014–15 fiscal year.

(C) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), for the 2017–18 to 2019–20 fiscal years, inclusive, the minimum amount required to be deposited into the account established pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be the greater of the following amounts:

(i) The lesser of 3 percent of the general fund expenditures for that fiscal year or the amount that the school district deposited into the account in the 2014–15 fiscal year.

(ii) Two percent of the total general fund expenditures of the applicant school district for that fiscal year.

(D) A school district contribution to the account may be provided in lieu of meeting the ongoing maintenance requirements pursuant to Section 17014 to the extent the funds are used for purposes established in that section. A school district that serves as the administrative unit for a special education local plan area may elect to exclude from its total general fund expenditures, for purposes of this paragraph, the distribution of revenues that are passed through to participating members of the special education local plan area.

(E) This paragraph applies only to the following school districts:

(i) High school districts with an average daily attendance greater than 300 pupils.

(ii) Elementary school districts with an average daily attendance greater than 900 pupils.

(iii) Unified school districts with an average daily attendance greater than 1,200 pupils.

(F) It is the intent of the Legislature that a school district shall be required to comply with the requirements of subparagraph (A) in the year in which the local control funding formula is fully implemented.

(3) Certify that it has publicly approved an ongoing and major maintenance plan that outlines the use of the funds deposited, or to be deposited, pursuant to paragraph (2). The plan may provide that the school district need not expend all of its annual allocation for ongoing and major maintenance in the year in which it is deposited if the cost of major maintenance requires that the allocation be carried over into another fiscal year. However, any state funds carried over into a subsequent year may not be counted toward the annual minimum contribution by the school district.

(c) A school district to which paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) does not apply shall certify to the board that it can reasonably maintain its facilities with a lesser level of maintenance.

(d) For purposes of calculating a county office of education requirement pursuant to this section, the applicable maintenance requirement specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) shall be based upon the county office of education general fund less any restricted accounts.

(e) (1) This subdivision shall only apply to a school district that received funds pursuant to this chapter equal to or greater than 10 percent of the State School Facilities Funds of 1998, 2002, 2004, and 2006.

(2) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b), a school district shall comply with the requirements of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) if the amount available in any fiscal year for the public school system pursuant to Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution is equal to or greater than the amount available in the prior fiscal year, unless a school district has locally negotiated an alternative minimum annual deposit percentage in a collective bargaining agreement with the representatives of the school district’s skilled crafts employees.

(3) Under no circumstances shall a school district deposit less than the amounts required in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b).

(4) This subdivision shall be operative from July 1, 2015, until June 30, 2020.

(f) As a condition of participation in the school facilities program, for a fiscal year after the 2004–05 fiscal year, a school district shall establish a facilities inspection system to ensure that each of its schools is maintained in good repair.

(g) For purposes of this section, “good repair” has the same meaning as specified in subdivision (d) of Section 17002.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 386, Sec. 9. (SB 436) Effective January 1, 2016.)

Last modified: October 25, 2018