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or lease will have a significant environmental effect. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, § 15061(b)(3).)
The district may adopt a Notice of Exemption at the same time it adopts the resolution
described above. (Id. at 15062.)

VIII. Competitive Bidding
At the public Board meeting where the bids are opened (in open session), the Board must do
the following (Ed. Code, §§ 17472, 17473):

o Open, examine, and declare all sealed proposals which have been received by the Board.

o Call for oral bids.

o Either accept the highest responsible bid (after deducting the commission, if any) which
conforms to all terms and conditions specified in the resolution of intention to sell or
lease the property, or reject all bids.

o If an oral bid is the highest responsible bid, it does not need to be accepted unless it
exceeds the highest responsible written bid by at least 5%.

o The bid may be accepted at either the same session or at any adjourned session of the
same meeting of the Board within ten days of the bid opening. (Ed. Code, § 17475.)

The district may seek a waiver of the above competitive bidding requirements from the State
Board of Education. (Ed. Code, § 33050.) In recent years, the State Board has been granting
some waivers of the competitive bidding requirement, particularly where a district intends to
sell property to a developer, including when the sale is contingent on the developer’s
obtaining entitlements to build on the property. In such circumstances, the district may
prefer the buyer most qualified to seek and obtain those entitlements, rather than the
highest bidder in all instances. Such waivers have not, however, exempted districts from the
various notice requirements set forth above; certain public process is still required, including
use of a request for proposal and a waiting period for public input after proposals are
received.

To request a waiver, the district must do the following:

o Enable the employees’ unions to participate in the development of the waiver. (Ed.
Code, § 33050(b).)

o Hold a public hearing on the issue. (Ed. Code, § 33050(a).)

o Submit an application to the State Board of Education.

IX. Exceptions
The district may bypass the above-described notification and bidding procedures required by
the Education Code in several situations, including, but not limited to the following.

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