Flagship · TK–14 Schools
RISE: School modernization and solar, financed around the funding you are waiting on.
RISE helps California TK–14 districts modernize facilities and go solar by stacking Proposition 2 funding, federal credits where still available, and tax-exempt capital against the project, with a career-technical program that trains students on the work itself.
The Opportunity
The money to modernize schools is real. The timing is the trap.
State support for school facilities is substantial: Proposition 2 matching, utility programs, and federal clean-energy credits where they are still available can together carry a large share of a project. Almost none of it pays the district up front. Credits are claimed after a project is placed in service; grants are reimbursement-based. Districts have to spend the money to receive the money, and most capital budgets cannot carry that gap, so projects stall, happen late at higher cost, or get value-engineered down to what the general fund can front. RISE closes the gap: capital at execution, the funding stack captured, and the compliance handled, with a workforce component that turns the construction into a classroom.
What RISE Finances
- Modernization and deferred-maintenance projects
- Solar generation and battery storage
- HVAC replacement and building electrification
- Lighting, controls, and building-envelope efficiency
- EV charging and fleet infrastructure
- Career-technical and workforce-training facilities
How It Works
Our approach
RISE wraps the financing inside the full funding strategy. We size bridge and long-term capital to the project timeline rather than the reimbursement timeline, identify the funding the project may qualify for, and stand up the post-issuance compliance at closing. Where the district wants it, we structure a career-technical component so students train on the very solar, HVAC, and modernization work the project funds. Detailed financial modeling is available as an optional service the district elects, billed separately.
Capital at the start of the project, not the end. Construction begins when planning is ready, not when the last grant clears.
Net project cost reduced by the layers the project qualifies for: Proposition 2 matching, federal credits where still available, and utility incentives, identified before the financing is sized and tracked through receipt.
A workforce pipeline built into the project, turning a construction contract into a career-technical program for the district's own students.
The Mechanics
How the funding stack changes the net cost.
Stack the funding
Proposition 2 matching, federal credits where still available, and utility programs are identified, applied for, and tracked through receipt.
Bridge the timing
Bridge capital covers project cost through construction and into the reimbursement window. As funding arrives, it pays down the bridge.
Train the workforce
An optional career-technical component puts students on the installation and modernization work, building local trades capacity while the project is built.
Eligibility
Who qualifies, and what can be financed.
Eligible Borrowers
- TK–12 public school districts
- California community college districts
- County offices of education
- Charter schools (subject to structural review)
What Can Be Financed
- Facility modernization
- Solar and storage
- HVAC and electrification
- Efficiency retrofits
- EV and fleet infrastructure
- CTE and workforce facilities
The Process
From first call to closing
Scoping call
A short, no-cost consultation on the project, timeline, and the funding already in play.
Funding review
The Proposition 2, federal, and utility layers the project may qualify for are identified. Detailed net-cost modeling is an optional service, billed separately.
Applications and design
Funding applications, and any federal credit election where still available, are prepared and filed alongside financing and design.
Issuance and closing
Board resolution, financing documents, and closing, capital in hand to begin work.
Compliance and workforce
Post-issuance compliance is administered for the life of the financing; the career-technical component rolls out with construction.
Questions
The questions boards ask first.
Yes. Districts that finance through RISE join the Authority as members. Joining is free, carries no obligation to finance, and takes a single action by your governing board. Optional services a district elects are billed separately.
The financing is structured for it. Bridge capital covers project cost without depending on any single funding source; if a layer is reduced, the residual rolls into the long-term financing on the terms the bonds were sized for.
Where the district wants it, RISE structures a career-technical pathway so students train on the solar, HVAC, and modernization work the project funds, coordinated with the district's CTE program and qualified contractors.
For some projects. Where federal credits are still available, tax-exempt entities can receive them as a cash payment through elective pay, but eligibility depends on the technology and on construction and placed-in-service timing under current federal law. What applies to a specific project is confirmed with your counsel before it is counted in the plan.
Read the full guide →A longer, print-ready guide to RISE for your team and board.
See whether RISE fits your agency.
Tell us about the project and timeline. We will return a preliminary read on structure and eligibility, at no cost.