Proposition 2, a bill funding California public schools and community colleges, passed on Nov. 6. The bill’s passing means the state will distribute $10 billion through grants, with $8.5 billion going to K-12 schools and $1.5 billion going to colleges.
Proponents of the bill argue it will address necessary infrastructure upgrades that many schools lack. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, 38% of students attend schools that do not meet the state’s health and safety standards.
However, according to Community College League of California President Larry Galizio, the funding the bill provides is insufficient in addressing needed renovations.
“We probably have 40 million people, and we have 115 community colleges, and then we have one all online college,” Galizio said. “So there are 115 community colleges throughout California, and they have buildings that are old, and there are industries and businesses that need educated and trained workers.”
Galizio said it would take $27 billion to completely renovate all the colleges in the state to bring them up to modern standards.
“You have buildings that need seismic upgrades, or they have utility and infrastructure that is decrepit and in need of repair,” Galizio said. “You have growth needs at some of the colleges, especially in places like the Inland Empire or the Central Valley, where populations are increasing and where the colleges were built in a different era, with a different economy and a different set of needs. You also have the need for new programming and new buildings and modernization.”
Galizio said these grants, allocated at the discretion of the Chancellor’s Office, will be used for objectives such as upgrading buildings to meet health and safety standards.
“The Chancellor’s Office will work with the colleges, first (to) identify where those health and safety needs are, and that will be the first set of that will be the top priority,” Galizio said. “Then so-called modernization will be the second priority.”
Galizio also said schools could get funding through other means.
“If they’ve been able to pass local bonds, they’ll have better, (more modernized) buildings,” Galizio said. “But there are some areas of the state where the voters have not passed local bonds, and those will probably be some of the top priorities because they have the greatest need.”
For schools that have these alternate methods of funding, Galizio said they would likely be given lower priority.
Teacher librarian Sima Thomas said the money may not be given to Paly due to its renovation work.
“There are buildings on this campus that haven’t really been updated since the ‘70s, but it sounded like there are schools that are in even worse states of repair, so I’m not sure how high priority Paly would be,” Thomas said.
For PAUSD specifically, Thomas said renovations were already ongoing throughout the district.
“Most, if not all of the schools in the district are going through phases of renovation,” Thomas said.
Regardless of modernity, Thomas said Paly is fortunate to have some newer buildings.
“There was a big amount of building done around 1970 (to) 1973 and I’m not sure if those were new in that era, or if they were like redone in that era,” Thomas said. “But I do know that they’re pretty old. We’re lucky in this library. It’s so lovely and so beautiful.”