Bay Area schools get federal money for buildings

A new batch of federal stimulus money will flow into California schools, with a new $848 million in tax credits for construction projects awarded to 61 districts, state education officials announced Friday.

Several Bay Area districts were among the recipients including Berkeley, Dublin, Burlingame and Piedmont.

The $25 million awarded to Berkeley will help fund new high school classrooms and a football stadium project. Other Bay Area awards ranged from $4.6 million in Byron to $25 million in several districts.

The federal funding allows districts to take either a cash subsidy or offer federal tax credits in lieu of interest to lenders who buy the school facilities bonds.

While the stimulus money did not require districts to adopt the most environmental building practices, Berkeley presents the example of how new school facilities should be built, said state Superintendent Tom Torlakson at a news conference Friday on the Berkeley High School football field.

The projects require 75 percent recycling of all construction waste, the use of green materials, and designs that conserve water and electricity.

"We really need to focus on the schools of the future," Torlakson said. "We can't teach California students in relics of the past."

Torlakson, on the job for less than two weeks, said he has created a task force to identify the best ideas for creating green schools and ways for helping school districts, especially small ones, take advantage of resources to improve energy efficiency.

The state superintendent said he will push to get California schools off the grid, creating their own power and recycling water and waste while cutting costs in the process.

In the meantime, the stimulus funds will boost jobs and build new schools, officials said.

"This program will help create thousands of new renewable-energy jobs throughout the state, many in the building and construction industries that have been hard hit by the downturn in the economy, while saving money through reduced energy use and improving our schools," said state Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, in a statement.

E-mail Jill Tucker at jtucker@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle