Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) General
provisions. Subsections (a)-(m) of this section implement Texas Education Code
(TEC), §48.261 (Reimbursement for Disaster Remediation Costs). The
commissioner of education may provide disaster remediation cost reimbursement
under subsections (a)-(m) of this section only if funds are available for that
purpose from:
(1) amounts appropriated for
that purpose, including amounts appropriated for school districts or
open-enrollment charter schools for that purpose to the disaster contingency
fund established under Texas Government Code, §
418.073;
or
(2) Foundation School Program
(FSP) funds available for that purpose based on a determination by the
commissioner that the amount appropriated for the FSP, including the facilities
component as provided by TEC, Chapter 46, exceeds the amount to which school
districts and open-enrollment charter schools are entitled under this
subchapter and TEC, Chapter 46.
(b) Eligibility. A school district or an
open-enrollment charter school that meets the following criteria is eligible to
apply:
(1) all or part of the school district
or open-enrollment charter school must be located in an area declared a
disaster area by the governor under Texas Government Code, Chapter
418;
(2) the school district or
open-enrollment charter school must have incurred and paid disaster remediation
costs during the two-year period following the date of the governor's initial
proclamation or executive order declaring a state of disaster that the school
district or open-enrollment charter school does not anticipate recovering
through insurance proceeds, federal disaster relief payments, or another
similar source for reimbursement; and
(3) in accordance with TEC, §
48.261,
the school district or open-enrollment charter school must apply for
reimbursement during the two-year period following the date of the governor's
initial proclamation or executive order declaring a state of disaster. The
school district or open-enrollment charter school must submit a completed
application by the application deadline. A school district or an
open-enrollment charter school that submits an incomplete application or
submits an application after the application deadline may be deemed ineligible
for funds.
(c)
Definitions. The following terms have the following meanings when used in this
section.
(1) Disaster remediation
costs--Costs incurred by a school district or an open-enrollment charter school
for replacing school facilities; equipment, including, but not limited to, the
cost to repair or replace vehicles or computers damaged in the disaster; and
supplies needed to provide instruction at a location where students eligible
for FSP funding regularly attend classes.
(2) Paid disaster remediation costs--Disaster
remediation costs that are paid or remitted resulting in an outflow of cash in
exchange for goods or services evidenced by an invoice, receipt, voucher, or
other such document, and in accordance with standards found in the Financial
Accountability System Resource Guide adopted by reference in §
109.41
of this title (relating to Financial Accountability System Resource Guide) and
TEC, §
48.261,
that the school district or open-enrollment charter school does not anticipate
recovering through insurance proceeds, federal disaster relief payment, or
another similar source of reimbursement in accordance with TEC, §
48.261,
and that were paid during the two-year period following the governor's initial
proclamation or executive order declaring a state of disaster.
(d) Application process. A school
district or an open-enrollment charter school seeking disaster reimbursement
must submit a new application each time Texas Education Agency (TEA) opens a
disaster reimbursement application process on a form prescribed by TEA. The
application shall contain, at a minimum, the following:
(1) identification of the governor's initial
proclamation or executive order declaring a state of disaster and evidence that
all or part of the school district or open-enrollment charter school is in the
area subject to the disaster declaration;
(2) the total dollar amount of paid disaster
remediation costs during the two-year period following the governor's
proclamation or executive order declaring a state of disaster;
(3) the total dollar amount of paid disaster
remediation costs paid during the two-year period following the governor's
proclamation or executive order declaring a state of disaster that the school
district or open-enrollment charter school anticipates to be reimbursed from
insurance proceeds, federal disaster relief payments, or another similar source
of reimbursement;
(4) the total
difference between the amounts of paid disaster remediation costs specified in
paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection and, of the total difference, the
specific paid disaster remediation costs for which the school district or
open-enrollment charter school is seeking reimbursement under TEC, §
48.261;
(5) an explanation as to why the school
district or open-enrollment charter school does not anticipate being reimbursed
from insurance proceeds, federal disaster relief payments, or another similar
source of reimbursement for each paid disaster remediation cost identified in
paragraph (4) of this subsection;
(6) a certification from the school district
or open-enrollment charter school board and superintendent or chief executive
officer that all paid disaster remediation costs for which the school district
or open-enrollment charter school is seeking reimbursement under paragraph (4)
of this subsection qualify as paid disaster remediation costs and that the
school district or open-enrollment charter school board and superintendent or
chief executive officer do not anticipate recovering these payments through
insurance proceeds, federal disaster relief payments, or another similar source
of reimbursement; and
(7) a
certification from the school district or open-enrollment charter school board
and superintendent or chief executive officer that the school district or
open-enrollment charter school, for any paid disaster remediation costs for
which the school district or open-enrollment charter school is seeking
reimbursement under paragraph (4) of this subsection, has made and will
continue to make efforts to seek reimbursement from insurance proceeds, federal
disaster relief payments, or another similar source of reimbursement as
allowable or appropriate.
(e) Updates for new payments. If a school
district or open-enrollment charter school makes more paid disaster remediation
cost payments after submission of its initial application to the TEA and prior
to the deadline announced for disaster reimbursement application submission,
the TEA will prescribe a form allowing the school district or open-enrollment
charter school to submit additional paid disaster remediation cost payments and
information consistent with the application process in subsection (d) of this
section and will increase the amount of reimbursement as available and
appropriate.
(f) Reporting
requirement. Annually after the date of the award under this disaster
reimbursement program, the awarded school district or open-enrollment charter
school board and superintendent or chief executive officer shall provide a
certified report on a form prescribed by TEA until all insurance proceeds,
federal disaster relief, or other similar sources of reimbursements related to
the disaster are finalized. On the report, the school district or
open-enrollment charter school shall identify any insurance proceeds, federal
disaster relief payments, or other similar sources of reimbursement that the
school district or open-enrollment charter school received for which the school
district or open-enrollment charter school previously received reimbursement
payment from TEA. TEA will adjust funding for any overpayments made to the
school district or open-enrollment charter school based on the final report
made under this subsection of the school district or open-enrollment charter
school out of the school district's or open-enrollment charter school's future
FSP payments or will require a refund from the school district or
open-enrollment charter school.
(g)
Finality of award. Awards of assistance under this section will be made based
only on paid disaster remediation costs. Prior to making an award, TEA may
request additional documentation, including, but not limited to, evidence
described in subsection (c)(2) of this section and evidence supporting the
certifications required by subsection (d)(6) and (7) of this section. A school
district or an open-enrollment charter school is not entitled to any requested
reimbursement, and a decision by the commissioner is final and may not be
appealed.
(h) Deadlines. The
commissioner will announce a deadline for disaster reimbursement applications
in conjunction with making a determination of the amount of funds available for
the disaster reimbursement program cycle. All applications received by the
announced deadline will be reviewed. Applications will be funded if sufficient
funds are available to fully fund each application. If sufficient funds are not
available to fully fund each application, funding will be prorated
proportionately so that every funded application receives the same percentage
of requested funding.
(i)
Distribution of funds. Funds will be allocated through the FSP and will appear
on the school district or open-enrollment charter school payment ledger and be
delivered as soon as is practicable after award amounts have been
determined.
(j) Finalization of
award. When the school district or open-enrollment charter school determines
that all insurance proceeds, federal disaster relief payments, or other similar
sources of reimbursement that the school district or open-enrollment charter
school anticipates receiving are finalized and there are no pending claims, the
school district or open-enrollment charter school board and superintendent or
chief executive officer shall certify to TEA in writing that the annual report
required by subsection (f) of this section is no longer necessary and disaster
reporting is finalized.
(k) Record
retention and audit. The school district or open-enrollment charter school
shall maintain all documents necessary to substantiate payment and
certifications made in subsections (c)(2), (d), (g), and (h) of this section,
and the school district or open-enrollment charter school is subject to audit
by TEA until two years after the school district or open-enrollment charter
school certifies to TEA in writing that the disaster is finalized and closed in
accordance with subsection (j) of this section.
(l) Replacement of school facilities damaged
in the disaster. In accordance with TEC, §
48.261,
a school district or an open-enrollment charter school is permitted to elect to
replace a facility damaged in a disaster instead of repairing that facility,
provided that the state funds provided under this section do not exceed the
lesser of the amount that would be provided to the district or charter school
if the facility were repaired or the amount necessary to replace the facility.
(1) Construction plans and budgeted costs to
rebuild the facility must be reasonable and appropriate, as follows.
(A) Construction plans should follow current
TEA facility guidelines and physical plant requirements as prescribed in
applicable provisions of Chapter 61, Subchapter CC, of this title (relating to
Commissioner's Rules Concerning School Facilities) without significant add-ons
or upgrades, noting that:
(i) pre-disaster
square footage in temporary buildings may be replaced with square footage in
permanent buildings;
(ii)
pre-disaster square footage amounts may be adjusted to account for additional
square footage specifically required by TEA guidelines, if applicable;
and
(iii) except where specifically
identified, the provisions of Chapter 61, Subchapter CC, of this title do not
apply to open-enrollment charter schools.
(B) Budgeted cost per square foot may not be
significantly higher than recent comparable construction costs within the
region where the facility will be constructed.
(C) Enrollment capacity of the facility may
not vary significantly from current common practice for new facilities of a
like purpose.
(D) The facility's
square footage per unit of enrollment capacity may not significantly exceed
current best practice guidelines for new facilities of like purpose.
(E) The requesting school district or
open-enrollment charter school is responsible for demonstrating that
construction plans and budgeted costs conform to the requirements in this
paragraph.
(2) The cost
to replace a facility shall be based on the average of the following two
methodologies:
(A) replacement cost based on
square footage, which is an amount equal to the product of the reasonable and
appropriate budgeted costs and the quotient of the square footage of the
pre-disaster facility and the square footage of the planned facility, where the
replacement cost may not exceed the budgeted cost; and
(B) replacement cost based on enrollment
capacity, which is an amount equal to the product of the reasonable and
appropriate budgeted costs and the quotient of the pre-disaster facility
enrollment capacity and the planned facility enrollment capacity, where the
replacement cost may not exceed the budgeted cost.
(3) The commissioner may grant a waiver of
one or more of the requirements in paragraph (1) of this subsection if the
school district or open-enrollment charter school provides sufficient
justification why the requirement should not apply in a particular
instance.
(4) The school district
or open-enrollment charter school may request an initial reimbursement based on
anticipated insurance proceeds, federal disaster relief payments, or other
similar sources of reimbursements. When this occurs, TEA will determine at a
later date the appropriate reimbursement when actual insurance proceeds,
federal disaster relief payments, or other similar sources of reimbursements
are known.
(m)
Applicability. Notwithstanding subsection (n) of this section, this section
applies to disasters that occur on or after September 1, 2019. Reimbursement
requests for disaster remediation costs for disasters that occurred prior to
September 1, 2019, are governed by §
61.1013
of this title (relating to Foundation School Program Funding for Reimbursement
of Disaster Remediation Costs) and §
61.1014
of this title (relating to Credit Against Recapture for Reimbursement of
Disaster Remediation Costs).
(n)
Provisions related to Winter Storm Uri. This subsection implements TEC, §
48.2611 (One-Time Reimbursement for Winter Storm Uri). TEA shall provide
reimbursement to school districts for costs incurred as a result of the 2021
North American winter storm (Winter Storm Uri), including any resulting
electricity price increases, using the process outlined in subsections (a)-(l)
of this section. This subsection expires September 1, 2023.
