Opinion ID: 1198839
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Establishment and ensured funding of adequate facilities

Text: ¶ 10 The first prong of the test set forth in Hull includes two components: the state must create minimum adequacy standards for capital facilities and must ensure, through state funding, that all districts comply with them. 190 Ariz. at 524, 950 P.2d at 1145. The Act meets this test. ¶ 11 The Act itself creates some building standards. The standards included in the Act regulate the basic physical infrastructure of school buildings, mandate compliance with local codes, and set minimum gross square footage requirements. Students FIRST § 44 (adding Arizona Revised Statutes (A.R.S.) § 15-2011). The Act also directs the School Facilities Board (SFB), a new nine-member administrative agency, to promulgate additional requirements. The SFB must set standards for all facilities and equipment necessary to achieve the state's academic requirements, including school sites, classrooms, libraries, cafeterias, auditoriums or multi-purpose rooms, technology, transportation, and facilities for science, arts and physical education. Id. Thus, on its face, the Act complies with the requirement that a general and uniform school financing system include statewide minimum adequacy standards for capital facilities. [2] ¶ 12 The state also must ensure that every school district complies with the minimum adequacy standards. Hull, 190 Ariz. at 524, 950 P.2d at 1145. The Act meets this requirement by mandating that every school district must comply with the standards and by providing state monies sufficient to fund each district's compliance. The Act charges the SFB with responsibility for monitoring the adequacy of each school district's facilities. Students FIRST § 44 (adding A.R.S. § 15-2002). If deficiencies exist, the SFB may distribute funds from several new funding sources in order to (1) bring existing facilities up to standards; (2) construct new facilities for growing districts; and (3) maintain all capital facilities at the adequacy level. Id. (adding A.R.S. §§ 15-2002, -2021, -2031, & -2041). By providing state funds and empowering the SFB to oversee compliance with the standards, the Act fulfills the state's constitutional obligation to finance adequate capital facilities. See Hull, 190 Ariz. at 524, 950 P.2d at 1145. Accordingly, the Act satisfies both components of the first prong of the test set out in Hull.