Current through February 27, 2024
(a)
Each year, department staff shall
(1) review
the revised six-year capital improvement plans submitted by each school
district under
4
AAC 31.011; and
(2) recommend to the state Board of Education
(A) a revised six-year capital improvement
plan; and
(B) a current-year
capital improvement grant schedule, including individual grant amounts; if
approved by the state Board of Education, the grant schedule takes effect with
the start of the following fiscal year subject to legislative
appropriation.
(b) When reviewing the six-year capital
improvement plans and the grant applications submitted by school districts,
department staff shall separately rank projects in the following
classifications in the first year of the plan, in descending order of priority,
as serves the state's best interests, where
(1) school construction projects are those
projects the primary purpose of which is to accomplish work under the
categories established in
AS
14.11.013(a)(1)(A),(B),(F), and
(G); and
(2) major maintenance projects are those
projects the primary purpose of which is to accomplish work under the
categories established in
AS
14.11.013(a)(1)(C) - (E),
except that a major maintenance project may not include additional or
replacement square footage.
(c) When the department staff ranks projects
under (b) of this section, the staff shall balance, as applicable to each
project, the following considerations:
(1) the
priority assigned to a project by a school district in relation to other
projects of that district for which grant applications are submitted;
(2) the percentage by which the number of
unhoused students exceeds the design capacity of existing facilities in the
attendance area;
(3) the
relationship of the cost of the project to the annual savings in operational
costs and the present worth as an annuity of the projected costs savings over
the remaining economic life of the building;
(4) whether the project
(A) is necessary to provide for elementary
and secondary instructional program requirements, mandated by state law or
regulation, that are not met by existing facilities;
(B) provides for elementary and secondary
instructional programs that, although available, are inadequately served by
existing facilities; or
(C) will
provide for new elementary and secondary instructional programs that, although
not presently provided by the school district, will allow new or enhanced
opportunities in the local instructional program;
(5) existing regional, community, and school
facilities and their condition;
(6)
alternative educational program options for accomplishing the project's
objectives;
(7) whether the project
has been phased for funding under (f) of this section or under
4
AAC 31.023(b);
(8) whether the project has a mixed scope
that combines features of projects described in (b)(1) and (b)(2) of this
section; if the project has a mixed scope, the department staff shall
(A) separately consider each category in the
mixed scope project when evaluating the whole project as proposed by the
district;
(B) assign weight to
evaluation criteria to consider each distinct mixed-scope element, and apply
the evaluation criteria to selected portions of the mixed scope element, where
appropriate; and
(C) apportion
points appropriate to the consideration of each mixed scope element to the
total project scope; and
(9) the inclusion of new square footage to
support unhoused students; the department staff shall place projects that add
or replace square footage on the school construction list.
(d) The department will, in its discretion,
reject a project
(1) that lacks adequate
documentation under the provisions of
4
AAC 31.011(b) (3) and
4
AAC 31.021;
(2) whose objectives can adequately be served
by existing facilities;
(3) whose
objectives can be met by an alternative project that is in the state's best
interest; or
(4) that is not in the
state's best interests.
(e) The department will, in its discretion,
approve a grant amount as proposed by the school district, reduce the proposed
project's budget in the six-year grant schedule prepared under this section, or
grant a waiver of all or a part of the required local contribution if requested
under 4 AAC 31.021(a). A
proposed project's budget will be reduced
(1)
if the costs, as determined by the department, are excessive;
(2) if the space proposed exceeds the maximum
allowed under
4
AAC 31.020, including any approved variances and any
adjustments to student population projections that the department considers
necessary to best reflect historic populations and reasonable future
growth;
(3) repealed
6/17/2010;
(4) if base square feet
allowable will not be used for education purposes for at least 75 percent of
the scheduled school day, except that for a school with a small enrollment in a
remote location, the department shall grant a variance for specialized
classroom space that will be used during at least two years out of any four
years;
(5) if the project costs
include the cost of repairing or replacing items not essential to the operation
of the physical plant or items that are normally scheduled for preventive
maintenance, routine repair, or replacement;
(6) if the project costs include items of
deferred maintenance work that are normally scheduled as a matter of preventive
maintenance or routine maintenance and repair in the operation of the facility;
or
(7) if items of cost are
included that are not eligible for consideration under the provisions of
AS
14.11.013(d) as allowable
costs for school construction.
(f) For the purpose of funding, when the
department prepares its grant schedule it will, in its discretion, divide a
project into phases if the project's planned completion permits phasing, if
phasing is in the state's best interest, and if phasing will not prejudice the
school district in providing its instructional program.
Authority:
AS
14.07.060
AS
14.11.011
AS
14.11.013
AS
14.11.132