The District will be constructing two new high school classrooms as part of the auditorium project at Saugus High School and increasing the number of classrooms at Hart High School by eight classrooms (collectively, the “Projects”) and will soon apply and eventually receive approval for funding from the Office of Public School Construction/State Allocation Board under the School Facilities New Construction Program.

Typically, in order to receive funding from the state, a district must have new construction grant eligibility at the grade level of the students for which the project will house.  The District does not have any ninth through twelfth grade eligibility as it utilized all of the high school pupil eligibility for the application for state funding of the new Castaic High School in order to maximize the state grants for that project.  The state School Facilities Program does, however, allow districts to request new construction grant funding utilizing eligibility determined at a different grade level for all or a portion of proposed projects.  In order to do so, the state requires a district’s governing board to publicly acknowledge by adopting a resolution and “housing plan” that the district is using state funding eligibility in an alternative manner.

STAFF ANALYSIS

The District proposes to utilize its junior high school grade level pupil eligibility to request state funding for the Projects.  The use of junior high school eligibility will result in the following estimated state new construction grants:

Saugus High School project:   $1.0 million

Hart High School project:        $2.6 million*

* In addition to the New Construction Program funds for Hart High School, the District will also be requesting $9.28 million in Modernization Program funds for a total state grant request of $11.88 million between the two sources of state funding.

If the Governing Board chooses not to utilize the junior high school eligibility to construct the high school classrooms:

• The District would not be able to submit an application for funding for the Saugus High School project resulting in zero dollars in state grants.
• For the Hart High School project, the District’s request for state grants will be limited to the Modernization Program funds of $9.28 million, or a reduction of $2.6 million in state funding.

If the Governing Board chooses to pursue the New Construction Program funds in this alternative manner, it is also important to note the following:

• While the junior high school pupil eligibility will be reduced as a result of these high school projects, there will still be sufficient junior high school eligibility to seek state funding for the projects at Placerita and Sierra Vista Junior High Schools.
• The District’s use of junior high school eligibility and request for state funding would be submitted when there is sufficient bond authority within the New Construction Program.  If the District is concerned with using junior high school eligibility to construct these high school classrooms, there is no guarantee that the eligibility would remain in the future.  The state program rules require that a district’s eligibility be updated in the year in which it requests funding.  In other words, there’s no guarantee that the untapped junior high school eligibility will be available in subsequent years.

State reimbursement from the State Facilities Program to be increased by approximately $3.6 million.

Cindy Pharis and Faye Valentine, Valencia High School teachers, are requesting authorization to attend the National Arts Education Association convention, March 2-5, 2017, in New York, New York.

Travel and lodging for Cindy Pharis and Faye Valentine, Valencia High School teachers, to attend the National Arts Education Association convention, March 2-5, 2017, in New York, New York, will be paid by the Hart District Teachers Association, and their two days of substitute coverage will be charged to Valencia High School’s School Formula Account.