Berkeley schools win $25m from federal stimulus funds

January 18, 2011 1:00 pm by Lance Knobel

BHS principal Pasquale Scuderi, school board member Josh Daniels, and state superintendent Tom Torlakson at the federal grant announcement/Photo: BUSD

Berkeley Unified School District received $25 million in federal Qualified School Construction Bond (QSCB) tax credits, State Superintendent for Instruction Tom Torlakson announced on Friday. The $25 million will help support Berkeley High’s new stadium and new classrooms, and construction at the West Campus.

According to BUSD spokesman Mark Coplan, Berkeley was fortunate that it had some major projects that were “more than shovel-ready, they had shovels on the ground.” Statewide, $848 million in QSCB credits were awarded.

The federal tax credits will mean that the value to the BUSD will be closer to $40 million, according to Coplan, because of the reduced interest on the district’s bonds. “This further helps us to meet the commitment to our community to find matching resources to help support our significant construction plans, and the many green aspects of the projects that are so important to our students and the Berkeley community,” said BUSD Superintendent Bill Huyett on Friday. 

Torlakson made the announcement at BHS because the school is taking advantage of the state’s High Performance Incentive grants, which provides funding for school projects that meet high environmental standards. Although the federal grants do not require green building standards, Torlakson is determined to make energy-efficient building part of California’s education system.

“It makes no sense to teach the next generation of California’s students in facilities that are relics of the past, powered by energy sources that are out of touch with our state’s renewable future,” Torlakson said on Friday. “Investing in energy efficiency will help our schools save money — now and over the long run – and show students that we’re concerned about the environment and their future.”

Torlakson announced the creation of a Schools of the Future team, with education, state, labor, and business leaders to make it easier for schools to build energy efficiency into every project, remove regulatory barriers, and identify potential funding sources.

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  • Mathew Parker

    Hi, newsflash. The muni bond market just CRASHED. There isn’t a bid for Berkeley and other citys’ toxic debt trash since no one has the capability to pay it off. So, we get a couple of million, but the bond is near a billion! And interest rates are flying higher.
    So, I’ll put a bet out there that the city defaults after paying benefits to the teachers union and doing Zero construction OR we can’t get the money at all because the whole debt market went toes up.
    We are never going to see this money, the fantasy state money and the credit card junkies at City Hall and BUSD will have to go back to budget and fire some deadweight. Particularly leadership

  • Maureen Burke

    Can someone explain how the tax credits work? The headline suggests the district will receive $25 million in cash and that is apparently not the case. Presumably the school bonds are already tax-free munis, so how are these additional tax credits applied? And Mr. Copeland’s statement that these tax credits will actually be worth close to $40 million–I do not understand. Thanks for any solid info.

  • Name Withheld

    I have the same question as Maureen — Tax credits on what, exactly?

    I was under the impression that public schools were considered non-profit establishments and were free from Federal/State taxation. What can these tax credits be applied to?

  • http://www.davosnewbies.com Lance Knobel

    Maureen and Name Withheld: Good question. I’ll look into just how the accounting on that number works and post an update. Probably won’t happen today — too much going on.

  • Maureen Burke

    1/21 article in Berkeley Voice entitled “Schools get millions for green push” by Doug Oakley reports: “…schools that sell construction bonds will be able to subtract their awarded amount from interest they pay on the bonds.” And then the article explains that the principal & interest on the bonds combined will reach $610 million, so the $25 million in tax credits will reduce BUSD interest payments from $400 million to $375 million.

    I don’t know how one can assume a $40 million benefit.