Article 8 - Hardship Application

California Education Code — §§ 17075.10-17075.20

Sections (4)

Repealed and added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 81, Sec. 18. (AB 247) Effective July 3, 2024. Operative November 6, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 30 of Ch. 81.

(a)(1) For health and safety projects for school facilities that are determined by the department to pose an unacceptable risk of injury to occupants in the event of a seismic event, a school district shall demonstrate both of the following to the satisfaction of the board:

(A) That due to unusual circumstances that are beyond the control of the school district, excessive costs need to be incurred in the construction of school facilities.

(B) That the facilities are needed to ensure the health and safety of pupils if the health and safety of pupils is at risk.

(2)For purposes of paragraph (1), health and safety projects include projects to replace the most vulnerable school facilities that are identified as a Category 2 building, as defined in the report submitted pursuant to Section 17317.

(b)(1) A school district is eligible for health and safety funding to replace, reconstruct, or construct new classrooms and related facilities if the school district demonstrates there is a threat to the health and safety of pupils. To determine the applicable grant amounts, the district shall prepare and submit to the department a cost-benefit analysis that compares the minimum cost to remain in the classroom or related facility and mitigate the health and safety problem with the current replacement cost.

(2)The project qualifies for modernization funding if the minimum cost is less than 50 percent of the current replacement cost of the classroom or related facility.

(3)The project qualifies for replacement facilities if the cost-benefit analysis prepared pursuant to paragraph (1) demonstrates that the cost to remain in the classroom or related facility and mitigate the problem is at least 50 percent of the replacement value.

(c)The department shall develop regulations to define eligible health and safety projects that meet the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b) for purposes of project approval by the board.

§ 17075.11

Added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 8, Sec. 13. (AB 121) Effective June 27, 2025.

(a)A school district may apply for hardship assistance in cases of extraordinary circumstances.

(b)A school district applying for state funding under this section shall demonstrate that due to unusual circumstances that are beyond the control of the school district, excessive costs need to be incurred in the construction of school facilities.

(c)The board shall review the increased costs that may be uniquely associated with urban construction and shall adjust the per-pupil grant for new construction or modernization hardship applications as necessary to accommodate those costs. The board shall adopt regulations setting forth the standards, methodology, and a schedule of

allowable adjustments for the urban adjustment factor established pursuant to this subdivision.

(d)This section shall apply to applications submitted on or after October 31, 2024.

§ 17075.15

Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 81, Sec. 19. (AB 247) Effective July 3, 2024. Operative November 6, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 30 of Ch. 81.

(a)From funds available from any bond act for the purpose of funding facilities for school districts with a financial hardship, the board may provide other construction, modernization, or relocation assistance as set forth in this chapter or Chapter 14 (commencing with Section 17085) to the extent that severe circumstances may require, and may adjust or defer the local financial participation, as pupil health and safety considerations require to the extent that bond act funds are provided for this purpose.

(b)The board shall adopt regulations for determining the amount of funding that may be provided to a district, and the eligibility and

prioritization of funding, under this article.

(c)The regulations shall define the amount, and sources, of financing that the school district could reasonably provide for school facilities as follows:

(1)Unencumbered funds available in all facility accounts in the school district, including, but not limited to, fees on development, redevelopment funds, sale proceeds from surplus property, funds generated by certificates of participation for facility purposes, bond funds, federal grants, and other funds available for school facilities, as the board may determine.

(2)The board may exclude from consideration all funds encumbered for a specific capital outlay purpose, a reasonable amount for interim housing, and other funds

that the board may find are not reasonably available for the project.

(d)The regulations shall also specify a method for determining required levels of local effort to obtain matching funds. The regulations shall include consideration of at least all of the following factors:

(1)Whether the school district has passed a bond measure within the two-year period immediately preceding the application for funding under this article, the proceeds of which are substantially available for use in the project to be funded under this chapter, but remains unable to provide the necessary matching share requirement.

(2)Whether the principal amount of the current outstanding bonded indebtedness issued for the purpose of

constructing school facilities for the school district and secured by property within the school district or by revenues of, or available to, the school district, which shall include general obligation bonds, Mello-Roos bonds, school facility improvement district bonds, certificates of participation, and other debt instruments issued for the purpose of constructing school facilities for the school district and for which owners of property within the school district or the school district are paying debt service is at least 60 percent of the school district’s total bonding capacity, as determined by the board.

(3)(A) Whether the total bonding capacity, as defined in Section 15102 or 15106, as applicable, is fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000) or less, in which case, the school district shall be deemed eligible for

financial hardship.

(B)Commencing with the 2026–27 fiscal year, the amount described in subparagraph (A) shall be adjusted each fiscal year by the inflation adjustment computed pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 42238.02.

(4)Whether the application for funding under this article is from a county superintendent of schools.

(5)Whether the school district submits other evidence of substantial local effort acceptable to the board.

(6)The value of any unused local general obligation debt capacity, and developer fees added to the needs analysis to reflect the district’s financial hardship, available for the purposes of school facilities financing.

§ 17075.20

Added by Stats. 2024, Ch. 81, Sec. 20. (AB 247) Effective July 3, 2024. Operative November 6, 2024, pursuant to Sec. 30 of Ch. 81.

(a)Notwithstanding any other law, the board may provide assistance under this chapter for purposes of procuring interim housing, including, but not limited to, the leasing or acquisition of portable classrooms and any work associated with placing them on a site, to school districts and county offices of education impacted by a natural disaster for which the Governor has declared a state of emergency. The allocated funds shall supplement funding from insurance or any other local, state, or federal government disaster assistance.

(b)For purposes of this section, and notwithstanding any other section of this chapter, school districts and county offices of education

determined by the board to be impacted by a natural disaster as described in subdivision (a) are deemed to meet the requirements set forth in Section 17075.10.

(c)Notwithstanding any other law, a school district or county office of education that receives assistance under this section shall be entitled to retain savings from a project and use those savings for other high-priority capital outlay purposes consistent with the requirements of subdivision (c) of Section 17070.63.

(d)(1) A grant provided pursuant to this section shall not affect the applicant’s eligibility for any other program under this chapter.

(2)Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a portable classroom purchased pursuant to subdivision (a)

shall be included in the determination of eligibility for new construction funding pursuant to Section 17071.75.

(e)The board may provide any other assistance to a school district or county office of education determined by the board to be impacted by a natural disaster as described in subdivision (a).