(a) In addition to Section 37688, on or after July 31, 2009, if the state board determines that the failure of a district to achieve substantial progress or develop a specific school building plan is not due to circumstances beyond the control of the district, but due to its failure to act diligently to plan for the elimination of the Concept 6 program or to execute its comprehensive action plan, the board shall hold a public hearing to determine whether the state board should implement direct oversight of the district’s facilities construction program.

(b) If the state board determines that direct oversight is necessary, the state board shall implement the oversight within 90 days of that determination.

(1) Direct oversight by the state board shall consist of assigning a monitor to the district who shall report to the state board at each of its regularly scheduled meetings on progress made by the district in working toward the elimination of the Concept 6 program. The monitor shall have relevant experience in engineering, construction, or management of major public works projects and shall have the resources and authority to contract with appropriate professionals in the fields of program management, project management, and finance. In selecting a monitor, the state board shall receive nominees from, and consult with, the superintendent of the district, the Office of Public School Construction, and the citizens’ oversight committee of the district, established under Section 15278.

(2) The monitor shall make recommendations to the district with respect to the planning and implementation of its school construction program. The district shall follow the recommendations of the monitor unless the district shows, to the satisfaction of the state board, good cause for not doing so. The district shall notify the state board if it disputes a recommendation and the state board shall hold a public hearing to hear and decide the dispute within 30 days of receiving the notice.

(3) The district and the citizens’ oversight committee shall have an opportunity to appear at the public hearing and provide written or oral testimony to support their positions.

(4) A recommendation of the monitor that is mandatory, as opposed to prohibitory, shall be stayed during the time the dispute is before the state board.

(5) Upon the conclusion of the public hearing, the state board shall direct the district to implement the recommendations of the monitor if it finds, in consultation with the Office of Public School Construction, that the district lacks good cause for failing to implement the recommendations.

(Added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 901, Sec. 3. Effective September 29, 2004.)