I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4620
To provide for planning, design, construction, furnishing, and equipping of
a Riverside School for the Arts in Riverside, California.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 9, 2000
Mr. CALVERT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To provide for planning, design, construction, furnishing,
and equipping of a Riverside School for the Arts in
Riverside, California.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Riverside School for
the Arts Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE RIVERSIDE
SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find-
ings:
(1) The United States is home to the world’s
largest entertainment technology industry com-
prising motion picture production, television, multi-
media, new media, and information technology sec-
tors; motion picture production alone accounted for
$30,500,000,000 in gross domestic product in 1997.
(2) California’s entertainment technology indus-
try, centered in Southern California, provides the
largest export product in the State.
(3) The Southern California entertainment
technology industry alone employs over 500,000 peo-
ple—more than 70 percent of all entertainment pro-
fessionals working in the State of California.
(4) The Southern California entertainment
technology industry continues to report a shortage of
trained personnel to fill production and artistic jobs,
and an ever-growing reliance on foreign labor.
(5) National education in the arts, and training
of artists and technical professionals in the United
States has not kept pace with the demands of the
entertainment technology industry.
(6) California projects that more than 260,000
new elementary and secondary school teachers will
be needed in the state in the next 10 years, and the
University of California and the California State
University systems now require successful comple-
tion of visual and performing arts coursework as a
college entrance requirement.
(7) No existing educational or training institu-
tion in California offers this fusion of academic, ar-
tistic, and technical preparation that can develop
professionals or teachers equipped to meet the de-
mands of the entertainment technology industry and
the needs of California’s public K–12 systems.
(8) Riverside County, California (population
1,441,237), which is located adjacent to the core of
the Southern California entertainment industry, is
considered one of the State’s fastest growing popu-
lation/transportation/business corridors and is stra-
tegically positioned to be a center for an evolving en-
tertainment support industry.
(9) The Riverside School for the Arts will cre-
ate a new model for developing and training artists
and entertainment professionals, and will educate
students from throughout the region, State, and Na-
tion.
(10) In 2000, the legislature of California au-
thorized the designation of the Riverside School for
the Arts as a California Center for Excellence and
authorized the joint funding and operation of the
School under the three public education segments.
(11) The Riverside School for the Arts will
serve as a model for intersegmental education that
spans the K–12, community college, and university
levels.
(12) The Riverside School for the Arts will
serve as a model for teacher preparation programs.
(13) The Riverside School for the Arts will
serve as a local, regional, and national site for the
study of the integration of intensive liberal arts and
sciences curriculum, traditional visual and per-
forming arts training, and emerging new media in-
struction.
(14) The Riverside School for the Arts will pro-
vide a unique access point into the entertainment
technology industry for under-represented and dis-
advantaged populations, as well as a retraining entry
point for professionals already employed in the in-
dustry.
(15) The Riverside School for the Arts, located
in the City of Riverside’s main urban redevelopment
area, will illustrate the concept of how an interseg-
mental, industry-sensitive educational institution can
serve as a catalyst and anchor for the revitalization
of downtown areas.
(16) The Riverside School for the Arts will
sponsor visual and performing arts programs, in-
cluding programs related to all entertainment
forms—e.g., film, drama, dance, music (traditional,
contemporary, and electronic), literary arts, as well
as community-oriented productions and events.
(17) Facility development of the Riverside
School for the Arts encompasses three distinct pro-
grammatic areas of study: the performing arts, the
visual arts, and the liberal arts. The Riverside
School for the Arts is planned to include a 400-seat
Proscenium Theater, a 200–300 seat Black Box
Theater, a 400-seat Dance Studio Theater, a Pho-
tography Modeling Center, a Digital Filmmaking
and Animation Hall, sound and animation studios,
convertible performance and exhibition spaces, a stu-
dent-operated gift store, a film and video library, a
back lot area, administrative and faculty offices, and
a residential housing building.
(18) It is appropriate for the Federal Govern-
ment to share in the costs of planning and program
development of the Riverside School for the Arts be-
cause Congress recognizes that the Riverside School
for the Arts has the potential to be a premier education
and training facility for performing arts, new media, and
entertainment technology; and serve as a model for edu-
cation/business partnerships, intersegmental educational
planning, teacher preparation and training, and commu-
nity and economic development.
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section—
(1) the term ‘‘Partnership’’ means Riverside
Community College, the University of California at
Riverside, and the Riverside County Office of Edu-
cation; and
(2) the term ‘‘School’’ means the Riverside
School for the Arts.
(c) CONSTRUCTION OF THE SCHOOL.—The Secretary
of Education will award a grant to the Partnership to pay
for the Federal share of the costs of design, construction,
furnishing, and equipping the School that will be located
at a site to be determined by the Riverside Community
College District, within the City of Riverside, California.
(d) GRANT REQUIREMENTS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive a grant
awarded under subsection (c), the Partnership, act-
ing through the President of Riverside Community
College—
(A) shall submit to the Secretary of Edu-
cation, within 45 days of the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, a copy of the Riverside School
for the Arts program documents; and
(B) shall exercise due diligence to expedi-
tiously execute, in a period not to exceed 90
days, a memorandum of understanding con-
cerning construction timelines and program de-
velopment phases.
(2) MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING.—The
memorandum of understanding described in para-
graph (1) shall provide—
(A) the date of completion of the construc-
tion of the School;
(B) that the Partnership shall award the
contract for architectural engineering and de-
sign services in accordance with the California
Education Code; and
(C) that the contract for construction of
the School—
(i) shall be awarded pursuant to a
competitive bid process; and
(ii) shall be awarded not later than 3
months after the solicitation of bids for the
construction of the School.
(3) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of
the costs described in subsection (c) shall be 50 per-
cent.
(4) NON-FEDERAL
SHARE.—The non-Federal
share of the costs described in subsection (c) shall
be in cash or in kind fairly evaluated, including
plant, equipment, or services. The non-Federal share
of the costs described in subsection (c) shall include
$25,000,000 appropriated by the California State
legislature for the planning, development, and con-
struction of the School.
(e) USE OF FUNDS FOR DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION,
FURNISHING, AND
EQUIPMENT.—The funds received
under a grant awarded under subsection (c) shall be used
only for the design, construction, inspection, and fur-
nishing of the School.
(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is
authorized to be appropriated to the Partnership to carry
out this section a total of $25,000,000 for fiscal year 2001
and succeeding fiscal years. Funds appropriated pursuant
to the authority of the preceding sentence shall remain
available until expended.
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