EdLawConnect Blog

The California Department of Education and the California Energy Commission today issued a press release informing all Local Educational Agencies (“LEAs”) with Average Daily Attendance (“ADA”) of less than 1,000 that they have until August 1, 2013 to apply for Proposition 39 funding comprising a combined funding allocation for the current and following year to be received in a lump sum allocation in the current year.  This notice comes ahead of completion of the regulatory drafting, public input and adoption process required under the California Administrative Procedures Act.  Nonetheless, small LEAs should go through the online application process and then start planning to use those funds, while anticipating what the rules are going to look like.

On May 31, 2013, the California Court of Appeal reversed the conviction of Karen Christiansen for violation of Government Code section 1090, which generally prohibits public officials from being financially interested in contracts they make in their official capacity. (People v. Christiansen, see decision here.) Because the Court concluded that Christiansen was an independent contractor, not an ...

The Division of the State Architect has recently implemented a new procedure for Field Act and access compliance certification of K-14 projects, beginning June 1, 2013. There is really only one change in the law — a bar to potentially conflicting interests in contracting for inspection services — which will be the focus of this post. A future post will provide details about the new DSA job card process.

The ...

Because of the way school facilities and technology funding has been separated and compartmentalized, we tend to think in narrow terms about how we approach new construction and modernization projects, information technology (IT) procurement, and IT system planning. There are major benefits to be drawn from a coordinated approach to these issues, which involves a comprehensive plan for IT structure. With this plan, we can design more energy efficient IT systems as our networks and data centers are built into our facilities and as we procure the equipment we plug into our networks.

The Division of the State Architect is about to implement a new procedure for Field Act and access compliance certification of K-14 projects beginning June 1, 2013. There is really only one change in the law, which is a bar to potentially conflicting interests in contracting for inspection services, which will be the focus of this post. A future post will provide details about the new DSA job card process.

The ...

When Governor Jerry Brown signed SB 1404 into law on September 29, 2012, the Civic Center Act (Education Code section 38130 et seq.) was amended to expand the definition of direct costs that a school district governing board may charge for use of its school facilities or grounds. The amendment also removed language that limited the requirement to allow use to “when an alternate location is not available.” ...

Proposition 39, which passed on the November 2012 ballot, has garnered a lot of interest for its provision to funnel about $500,000,000 a year into energy conservation projects for public education over each of the next five years.  Unfortunately, the enthusiasm has gotten a little ahead of implementation – which looks like it will take a while.

Prop 39 essentially applies to out-of-state businesses the ...

Under Public Contract Code sections 20111 and 20651, school and community college districts must competitively bid and award a contract involving the expenditure of more than $50,000, adjusted for inflation, to the lowest responsible bidder. The threshold for the bidding requirement is increased annually to reflect the change in the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services for the United States, as published by the United States Department of Commerce for the 12-month period ending in the prior fiscal year. The adjustment is not the same as the revenue limit cost-of-living adjustment.

The Office of Public School Construction (OPSC), recognizing that it will continue to receive funding applications from school districts after existing bond authority is no longer available for New Construction and Modernization applications, has implemented new regulations to deal with funding requests. Section 1859.95.1 in Title 2 of the California Code of Regulations establishes how OPSC will ...

The Legislature has recently provided community college districts with a new way to maximize resources when new legislation becomes effective in January, 2013. (Assembly Bill 1748, Chapter 78).

Education Code section 81378.1 currently provides a relatively simple process for community colleges to enter into leases of certain district property when the leases have terms between five days and five years ...