Priority Funding for School Construction Projects

Stakeholders can view information regarding priority funding eligibility, funding rounds, and non-participation in the funding rounds.

Priority Funding Apportionments

Priority Funding Eligibility

 

The priority funding process was created to allow projects that receive unfunded approval by the State Allocation Board (SAB) and are placed on the Unfunded List (Lack of AB 55 Loans) to receive an apportionment with accelerated timelines. 

School Facility Program Regulation Section 1859.90.2 requires a school district to submit a written statement that requests to convert the unfunded approval to an Apportionment. Projects on the OPSC Workload List cannot make this request.  Any priority funding requests received for projects on the OPSC Workload List will be returned to the district.

Nonparticipation in Priority Funding Regulations

On March 25, 2013, the Office of Administrative Law approved the Nonparticipation in Priority Funding regulations on an emergency basis. There are two ways for a school district to choose not to participate in the priority funding process:  Not submitting a valid priority funding request in the 30-day filing period, or submitting a valid priority funding request but failing to submit a valid Fund Release Authorization (Form SAB 50-05) to request the release of funds after the SAB approves an apportionment. Any project that incurs two nonparticipation occurrences will be removed from the Unfunded List (Lack of AB 55 Loans), and the priority funding apportionment will be rescinded without further SAB action.

While the nonparticipation regulations are phased in, please click here to view a chart that illustrates which projects are subject to the new regulations. 

Priority Funding Request Period

School districts and charter schools with projects on the Unfunded List (Lack of AB 55 Loans) may submit requests to qualify for future priority funding apportionments.  

Priority Funding Rounds        

  • Priority Funding Round 25: Effective July 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023
      (Filing Period will begin May 10, 2023 – Filing Period will end June 8, 2023)
  • Priority Funding Round 26: Effective January 1, 2024 – June 30, 2024
      (Filing Period will begin November 8, 2023 – Filing Period will end December 7, 2023)
  • Priority Funding Round 27: Effective July 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024
      (Filing Period will begin May 8. 2024 – Filing Period will end June 6, 2024)

Districts opting to participate in the priority funding process shall submit a request to convert an unfunded approval to an Apportionment. For information on requirements and instructions for submitting requests, please refer to the Procedures for School Facility Program Funding.

Priority Funding (PF) requests must be received by the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) before the end of the day (11:59 p.m.) on the final day of the filing round. It is recommended that school districts submit PF requests using OPSC Online. For a step-by-step guide on using OPSC Online to submit a PF request, you can view the virtual workshop on our YouTube page: https://youtu.be/dua1YDsAcg8

OPSC also accepts PF requests via email to OPSCPriorityFunding@dgs.ca.gov. OPSC will continue to accept hard copy PF requests submitted via mail. It is recommended that school districts monitor any mailed letters by tracking the parcel and receiving delivery confirmation. The OPSC will not accept requests after the end of the filing period.

If the project receives an apportionment, the District will have 90 days from the date of apportionment to submit a signed Grant Agreement and a complete and valid Form SAB 50-05. If the project does not receive an apportionment prior to the end of the corresponding 6-month Priority Funding Round effective date period, the request will expire and will not be carried over to the next priority funding round. Districts opting to participate in subsequent rounds must file a new request for each priority funding round.

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