Godinez
Godinez v. Schwarzenegger
Opinion
lead Opinion
Klein, J.
*77 Opinion
Defendants and appellants State of California, the State Allocation Board (Board) and its member Ron Joseph, the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) and its executive officer, Luisa M. Park, Tom Campbell as Director of Finance, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor, Philip Angelides as State Treasurer and Steve Westly as State Controller (collectively, defendants) appeal an order granting a motion by plaintiffs and respondents Roxana Godinez et al. (collectively, plaintiffs) for attorney fees, costs and expenses. [[ * ]]
Plaintiffs are a group of public schoolchildren residing in the Los Angeles Unified School District (L.A. Unified or L.A.USD), as well as their parents and community groups. They sued defendants challenging their regulations and practices in distributing school bond monies for new construction on a first-come-first-served basis, rather than based on a school district’s need or priority. The existing system operated to the detriment of densely populated urban school districts, which require much more time to perfect their applications for construction funds due to scarcity of land, environmental issues and other considerations.