School facilities: school districts: energy efficiency projects.

(1) Existing law expresses legislative findings and declarations that it is in the interest of the state and of the people thereof for the state to aid school districts in finding cost-effective methods of conserving energy in school buildings maintained by the school districts. This bill would appropriate $20,000,000 to the State Department of Education for allocation to school districts for purposes of energy efficiency projects. The bill would provide that a school district is eligible for those funds only if it has received specified funding and does at least one of 4 specified things in connection with those energy efficiency projects, including, partners with an institution of higher education for purposes of providing energy efficiency project-based learning opportunities for pupils enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, leverages private investment, utilizes state-approved apprenticeship programs and ensures access to those programs for qualified veterans who were discharged after September 11, 2001, or incorporates the reclamation and conservation of water into certain projects, as specified. (2) Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.