California school districts entered 2025 with a near-historic infusion of bond funding—and a long list of needs. How can districts make the most of funding to build quality schools that help students succeed? Here’s a roadmap.

More than 38% of California’s K-12 students spend their days in school buildings that do not meet minimum standards. Major facility upgrades are needed to replace aging buildings, increase energy efficiency and provide the technological infrastructure to support digital learning.

California voters stepped up last November, approving almost 250 local school and community college facilities bonds—adding a near-record $45 billion in bond funding to facilities budgets.

While securing bond funding may seem like the end of a long journey, it’s also the beginning of another one: turning funding into facilities that meet the needs of a community. Now that school districts have the money to modernize, many are wondering “What’s next?”

Here’s a roadmap to help navigate the process from funding a project to successfully delivering it.

Plan for Success

After years of nurturing a vision, it’s tempting to skip planning and leap right into design but starting without a plan often results in last-minute cost-cutting and delays. Planning lays the foundation for success. Time invested at the outset leads to informed decision-making that pays off throughout the project’s lifecycle.

The ability to influence project outcomes is greatest before costs are committed, when there’s still time to pivot. Identifying potential problems and opportunities early in the process can save significant time and money, allowing you to avoid costly mistakes and change orders, as well as incorporate cost-effective strategies that optimize resources and performance.

Every project should start with a needs assessment to determine the overall scope. Carefully analyzing programming, space, site and code requirements and constraints ensures that essential needs are met, timelines are realistic and project goals align with expectations. Once priorities and objectives are clarified, a project plan and budget can be set.

A proactive approach gives the project team time to value-engineer plans and compare different construction methods to deliver the project at the best cost and schedule.

Build the Team

Time spent planning and crafting a vision is wasted without a well-organized team to execute the plan.

It takes the unique skillsets and expertise of many different functional groups to ensure the successful delivery of a quality project. Assembling the right team of design and construction professionals and creating a culture where they work together seamlessly can make or break a project.

Build ground-up, including stakeholders, administrators, the school board and the community to maintain essential support. Create strategic partnerships with architects, engineers, builders and modular manufacturers, clearly defining roles and responsibilities to maximize productivity. Onboard them early to benefit from their experience and insight—it will add immediate value, ensuring a better design, faster plan approval and a smoother process from design to delivery.

Building strong relationships builds trust and ownership. The greatest success comes from teamwork—team members working cooperatively and communicating openly, sharing ideas and information in real-time and aligning diverse resources toward a common goal.

Maximize Your Budget

Budgeting balances cost control with quality control. With inflation on the rise, it’s more important than ever to allocate every dollar wisely, investing in materials and systems with the greatest impact and capitalizing on efficiencies to ensure your project has the financial support to deliver the vision.

Start with a realistic assessment of how much it will cost to execute the project plan. Itemize costs for the exact design specs, accounting for supply chain issues that can significantly impact build costs. Factor in the cost of project and state energy requirements, including code-mandated solar PV and battery storage systems that will add upfront costs, but can lower operating costs long-term.

Tap into every funding source, leveraging state-matched funding to close the gap between funds needed and funds available. Proposition 2, passed in November 2024, allocates $10 billion in facilities funding– $8.5 billion for TK-12 schools and $1.5 billion for community colleges—to supplement local bonds.

Even with state funding, many districts need to stretch budgets a little more. Since most expenses are incurred in construction, this is where the greatest efficiencies can be found. Reducing the largest expenses—materials and labor—and controlling the most impactful variables—how and where you build—create the greatest savings.

Choose the Best Construction Method

The construction method you choose directly impacts your project cost and timeline. It’s important to consider all three construction methods—conventional, modular and hybrid—at the very beginning to see which option best aligns with your project goals.

Choose the Right Construction Partner

Success isn’t just about the building; it’s about building a relationship with the people who bring the project to life. Choosing the right construction partner can simplify a complex project. Choosing the wrong one can complicate the simplest of projects. So how do you choose?

Everyone is cost-conscious, but don’t just look for the lowest bid. Look for a company that’s experienced in school construction, one that invests in a skilled workforce and cutting-edge equipment and technology. Partnering with an inexperienced builder or one who cuts corners will cost more in the long run. A company that has a reputation for quality and has proven it can handle challenges, meet deadlines and deliver on promises is more likely to deliver for you.

Look for the flexibility to create modern designs shaped to your project vision. Innovative companies think creatively, offering new ideas and taking pride in creating the dynamic 21^st century learning spaces that today’s students need. They offer options like DSA Pre-Check designs that accelerate plan approval and streamline procurement for expedited delivery.

Construction is a long-term commitment, so take the time to find the greatest value and fit. Projects go smoother when values, goals and cultures align. The right construction partner will understand your needs, share your vision and earn your trust by being open and transparent.

A Roadmap for Successful Project Delivery

A construction project is considered a success when it meets project goals on-time, on-budget, within scope, and performs to stakeholder expectations. Successful projects don’t just happen—they’re the result of careful planning and a committed team executing to plan.

A roadmap is like a navigational system, helping mitigate risks, control costs and manage workflows, efficiently steering your project toward the desired outcomes.

How AMS Sets Your Project Up for Success

An experienced partner like AMS simplifies the complexities of bond-funded facilities construction. The earlier we’re involved, the more we can help, streamlining the process and value-engineering designs to deliver the greatest time, energy and cost savings. We’re California’s most trusted modular manufacturer, delivering more modular schools than any other company in the state—for good reason.

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Partner with us to bring your vision to life.