Nearly $200 million set aside in California to update school HVAC systems remains unspent

For the third straight year, environmental activists and California lawmakers are locked in a tug-of-war over a pool of state funds created to upgrade heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in schools to curb disruptions and closures attributed to extreme weather.

At a time when one environmental group estimates 60,000 K-12 students in the state — nearly a third of them in San Bernardino County — have lost classroom time this school year due to weather-related events, roughly $194 million sits in limbo in the CalSHAPE program.

CalSHAPE, shorthand for the California Schools Healthy Air, Plumbing and Efficiency Program, was created in August 2020 during the early grip of the COVID-19 pandemic, primarily with funds from the energy-efficiency budgets of investor-owned utility companies.

The goal was to provide grants to improve aging ventilation and plumbing systems to help keep schools cool during heat waves, filter smoke from wildfires and help combat the spread of infectious disease. The most ambitious HVAC upgrades would include solar and storage power backup so campuses could stay open even when electricity is cut off.

Amounts awarded to schools have varied, ranging from about $20,000 for minor repairs to more than $2 million.

Energy affordability

But CalSHAPE abruptly quit doling out money in 2024 amid concerns in Sacramento about the state’s burgeoning utility bills for ratepayers. In a December letter to the California Energy Commission, a handful of legislators pushed to put CalSHAPE out of business and return the $194 million to the utility companies “to address our state’s ongoing challenges with energy affordability.”

“Anytime that we are asking for ratepayers to fund these initiatives, we need to take a very, very close look at the cost effectiveness of the initiatives,” said Assemblymember Cottie Petrie-Norris, D-Irvine, who chairs the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee.

Despite her environmentally friendly voting record, it was Petrie-Norris who introduced a bill in 2024 to end the CalSHAPE program early, before it was set to expire in December 2026, and return the funds to the utility companies, with a requirement that ratepayers receive credits. But the bill failed.

Supporters of CalSHAPE say any ratepayer refunds would be negligible. According to a recent Senate budget subcommittee hearing agenda, $1.25 per month would be returned for one year to Southern California Edison customers, $2 per month for a year to San Diego Gas & Electric customers, and 20 cents per month for a year to Pacific Gas & Electric customers.

“It’s insulting that our children and teachers’ well-being and ability to learn is so little-valued,” says JuNelle Harris, co-founder of the nonprofit Clean Air Allies. “This idea that CalSHAPE is somehow the root cause of utility unaffordability is absurd.”

Petrie-Norris acknowledges that the size of the pool “isn’t enormous” but says costs to utility customers have been “death by a thousand cuts.”

“We need to ensure that the things that are on people’s utility bills should be the cost of delivering electricity to your house, not a bunch of other programs or pet projects,” she said.

Now, however, environmental activists are supporting a bill amendment with language to keep the CalSHAPE program alive beyond its statutory expiration on Dec. 1. If it fails, unspent funds will be returned to the investor-owned utility companies with no requirement that ratepayers receive credits on their bills.

Harris argues that since the money is already set aside, it should go to where it was intended. For schools, she said, “The bottom line is there is no other funding source at hand.”

Tedious process

The process for school districts to actually grab a slice of the funds is somewhat tedious.

CalSHAPE funding was to be distributed in two phases: Phase 1 called for assessments of school HVAC systems and small repairs, while Phase 2 involved funding the serious repairs.

Once schools completed Phase 1, they had to submit reports to the California Energy Commission, which then had to approve them before schools could move onto the next phase. That’s not to mention construction delays, supply chain disruptions and backlogged reports at the CEC, Harris says.

Though more than 4,500 schools received funding to have their HVAC systems assessed, only 172 have received Phase 2 funds.

“Not very many people had actually had the opportunity (to proceed to Phase 2) before the program was frozen,” Harris said.

Local impacts

In San Bernardino County, 227 schools received CalSHAPE funds for HVAC assessments and minor repairs, but only seven schools in the Chino Valley Unified School District have received funds for upgrades and serious repairs.

Yet the need is great throughout the county.

UndauntedK12, a national nonprofit working to make public schools resilient to climate change, estimates that among the 60,000 students statewide who have lost time to weather-related events this school year, more than 17,000 were in San Bernardino County.

UndauntedK12, which tracks closure notices shared by local or state agencies, says that’s more students than in any other county in California.

San Bernardino County, the largest geographic county in the contiguous United States, encompasses both desert and mountains and “can be particularly susceptible to extreme and variable weather conditions,” according to a spokesperson for the county superintendent of schools.

Five San Bernardino County schools shut down in August because of a public safety power shutoff, 14 more were closed due to extreme heat the following day, and two school districts were closed for several days after heavy snow in February.

The 14 heat-related closures occurred after a train struck utility equipment, which caused a power outage, according to the county schools spokesperson. The combination of high temperatures and the power outage prompted the San Bernardino City Unified School District to close the schools.

Five schools in Bear Valley Unified School District have been closed this year because of public safety power shutoffs, temporary electricity shutoffs designed to reduce wildfire risk during strong winds or heat waves.

Statewide, the frequency of public safety power shutoffs increased by 145% in 2025, according to reporting by the Desert Sun. Schools can remain open even during power outages or shutoffs, but when temperatures are too high and there’s no power backup to keep the air conditioning running, they may be forced to close.

When schools close because of power outages or public safety power shutoffs, children stay home, where the power often is out, too.

“Not only are they missing out on this critical learning time, but they’re not getting any respite from the heat,” said Stephanie Seidmon, program director of UndauntedK12.

When schools are closed, students receive at-home instruction, said Karen Gray, co-chair of the San Bernardino County District Advocates for Better Schools Executive Committee, but it’s “not optimal.” In-person attendance is important for stability and consistency in children’s lives.

“Some kids count on school to be fed,” she added.

Given the age of public schools in California — 40% were built more than 50 years ago — and the threat posed by climate change, Seidmon argues the CalSHAPE funds should be spent on infrastructure upgrades.

Without them, she said, “we will continue to see school closures and disruptions that could otherwise be prevented.”