AB 503 – Restores the Ability to Charge Direct Costs for Certain Facilities Uses under the Civic Center Act

Existing law, the Civic Center Act, requires school districts to allow youth and community organizations to use school facilities and grounds. For that use, a school district may charge an amount not to exceed its direct costs. In 2012, a bill was passed that expanded the definition of direct costs to include a proportional share of maintenance, repair, restoration, and refurbishment costs associated with the use of the school grounds or facilities. That expanded authority recently expired on January 1, 2025. AB 503 restores that expanded definition and ability to charge these costs indefinitely, and, as an urgency statute, takes effect immediately. AB 503 also adds a requirement that the costs collected relating to maintenance, repair, restoration, and refurbishment must be deposited into a special fund and only used for those purposes.

(AB 503 amends Section 38134 of the Education Code.)