California State Funding
State Funding
California offers several funding programs that may help school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education improve school facilities, support safer learning environments, strengthen emergency preparedness, and address locally identified safety needs.
Local Control Funding Formula and Local Control and Accountability Plan
LCFF and LCAP
The Local Control Funding Formula is California’s primary system for distributing funding to K–12 local educational agencies.
Funding is based largely on student attendance, with additional resources provided for students with greater needs.
Each local educational agency explains how it will use its available resources through a Local Control and Accountability Plan. The plan identifies local goals, planned actions, and budgeted expenditures connected to California’s education priorities.
One of these priorities is school climate, which includes student perceptions of safety and school connectedness. When supported by documented local needs and included in an approved plan and budget, districts may direct flexible LCFF resources toward initiatives intended to create safer and more supportive school environments.
After School Education and Safety Program
Expanded Learning / ASES
The After School Education and Safety Program provides state funding for locally operated before-school and after-school programs serving students from transitional kindergarten through grade nine.
Created through Proposition 49, the program supports academic enrichment, literacy activities, supervision, and safe, constructive alternatives for students outside regular school hours. Program funding prioritizes schools serving higher proportions of students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
Schools may use ASES funding for allowable costs necessary to operate an approved expanded-learning program safely. Any safety equipment, communication resource, or related expense must directly support the funded program and comply with applicable program rules.
Proposition 2 – Public Education Facilities Bond
California voters approved Proposition 2 on November 5, 2024. The measure authorized $10 billion in bonds for K–12 schools and community college facilities, including $8.5 billion for K–12 public school facilities.
Funding is administered primarily through the School Facility Program and supports eligible new construction, modernization, repair, and facility-safety projects.
Proposition 2 also created dedicated support for smaller school districts. A small school district is defined as one enrolling fewer than 2,501 students, and 10 percent of specified new-construction and modernization bond funds was reserved for this program.
Districts seeking Proposition 2 funding must meet the applicable School Facility Program requirements, which include submitting a governing-board-approved five-year school facilities master plan. Safety, communications, access-control, or security improvements may be included when they qualify as approved components of an eligible facility project.
Charter School Facilities Program
The Charter School Facilities Program is a dedicated component of Proposition 2 that received $600 million for new charter-school facility applications.
The program supports eligible new construction and rehabilitation projects for qualifying charter schools. It generally operates through a 50 percent state grant and 50 percent local contribution structure, subject to the program’s funding and financing rules.
Charter applicants must meet requirements concerning eligibility, financial soundness, project approval, and the proposed facility. Security, emergency communication, access control, and other safety-related infrastructure may be included when they form an eligible and approved part of the larger facility project.
Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant
Assembly Bill 121 established the Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant for the 2025–26 fiscal year.
The program provides $1.7 billion in one-time state funding to eligible school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools. Allocations are calculated on a per-unit basis using average daily attendance, with a statewide rate of approximately $313.08 per ADA unit.
The funding is discretionary and may be used to address rising operating costs and other local priorities, including—but not limited to—the purposes identified by the state, such as professional development and teacher recruitment and retention.
Funds may be spent during the 2025–26 through 2028–29 fiscal years and must be expended by June 30, 2029. Because the grant is flexible, a local educational agency may consider school-safety expenditures when they are legally allowable, locally approved, and consistent with its budgeting and procurement requirements. California’s published guidance does not specifically identify wearable panic buttons as a required or automatically approved use.
Mandate Block Grant
The Mandate Block Grant is an ongoing state funding option available to eligible county offices of education, school districts, and charter schools.
Participating agencies receive annual per-pupil funding instead of filing individual reimbursement claims for specified state-mandated programs and activities.
Covered mandates include requirements associated with comprehensive school-safety planning and certain emergency procedures.
The grant is intended to offset the cost of carrying out those state mandates. Local agencies may determine how best to meet the covered requirements, but the funding should not be described as unrestricted school-security money. Any technology purchase must be reasonably connected to implementing an eligible mandate and comply with local accounting, purchasing, and audit requirements.
The funding information and links provided on this page are based on publicly available information at the time of publication. While we make every effort to keep this resource current and relevant, funding programs, eligibility requirements, deadlines, and website links may change over time. If you discover outdated information, inaccurate content, or a broken link, please let us know by emailing info@carehawk.com.