2002 EDUCATION BILLS REPORTED TO FINANCE

OLR Research Report


March 25, 2002		2002-R-0377
2002 EDUCATION BILLS REPORTED TO FINANCE

By: Judith Lohman, Chief Analyst

You asked for brief summaries of bills the Education Committee referred favorably to the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

sSB 43 - AN ACT CONCERNING AUTHORIZATION OF STATE GRANT COMMITMENTS FOR SCHOOL BUILDING PROJECTS

Section 1 - Project Authorizations

The bill authorizes state grant commitments for 108 school building projects, broken down by type in Table 1 below. The state reimburses school districts for from 20% to 80% of eligible school construction costs, depending on wealth. Certain types of projects are eligible for a 5% or 10% bonus. In addition, the state pays 100% of the costs for vocational agricultural centers, vocational-technical schools, regional special education facilities, and interdistrict magnet schools.

Table 1: 2002 School Projects By Type

*Number of Projects*	*Project Type*	*Estimated Total Cost*	*Estimated Total State Grants*
4	Interdistrict magnet schools	$ 169,765,991	$ 169,765,991
16	New schools	683,298,755	435,063,280
32	Combined extension and alteration	465,361,293	213,738,713
14	Alterations	145,712,687	92,055,516
8	Extensions	55,597,999	45,583,490
8	Local board of education administrative facilities	11,621,694	3,413,704
8	Technology upgrades	445,140	164,673
6	Energy conservation	2,617,188	1,775,050
3	Regional Special Education Centers	7,035,836	7,035,836
5	Regional Vocational-Agriculture Centers	17,140,798	17,140,798
4	Regional Vocational-Technical Schools	209,323,000	209,323,000
108		$ 1,767,920,381	$ 1,195,060,051

The bill also reauthorizes 41 previously authorized projects that have increased substantially (more than 10%) in scope or cost as follows:

Number of Projects	Costs Previously Authorized	Current Costs	Change	Estimated Grant Impact
41	$ 762,055,579	$ 1,044,948,303	$ 282,892,724	$ 224,421,736

Sections 2-10 and 13 - Procedural Waivers

The bill waives certain State Department of Education (SDE) procedural requirements to make the following projects eligible for school construction grants:

*Section*	*District*	*School*	*Project*
2	Bolton	Bolton High School	Relocatable classrooms
3	Winsted	Gilbert School	Roof replacement
4	New London	Jennings Elementary School	Oil tank replacement
5	New London	Jennings Elementary School	Renovation
6	New London	Edgerton Elementary School	Install modular classrooms
7	Winchester	Batcheller Elementary School	Code violation
8	Stamford	Cloonan School	Asbestos removal
9	Stamford	Stamford High School	Code improvements
10	New Britain	Lincoln Elementary School	Renovation and addition
		Northend Elementary School	Renovation and addition
		Vance Elementary School	Renovation and addition
13	Stamford	Rippowam School	Alterations and code remedies

Section 11 - Kent Center School Waiver

The bill waives statutory state agency plan approval requirements to allow Kent to be eligible for a grant for renovations and new construction associated with improvements to Kent Center School.

Section 12 - Design-Build Contracts

The bill allows school districts to use, and be eligible for state grants and progress payments for, design-build contacts for new schools if appropriate local authorities review and approve each design phase for code compliance. It exempts such projects from regular school construction procedures, including prior SDE approval of project plans and specifications and competitive bidding requirements for projects contracts and orders.

The bill requires (1) any district that chooses to use a design-build contact to attend a meeting with SDE staff beforehand and (2) SDE to give the district the department's code checklists and review materials for use as the basis for required plan approval by local code officials or other qualified code reviewers. The bill gives the district sole responsibility for assuring that the project complies with applicable codes.

Effective Dates: The provisions authorizing design-build projects are effective July 1, 2002. The rest of the bill is effective on passage.

HB 5044 - AN ACT CONCERNING FAMILY RESOURCE CENTERS

This bill makes construction of family resource centers eligible for state school construction grants and gives school districts a 5% bonus on their reimbursement if they include a family resource center of not more than 1,000 square feet in an elementary school expansion project.

Effective Date: July 1, 2002

sHB 5502 - AN ACT CONCERNING AUTHORIZATION OF BONDS OF THE STATE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF HISTORIC STRUCTURES

The bill authorizes up to $ 10 million in bonding for the Connecticut Historical Commission to preserve historic structures.

Effective Date: July 1, 2002

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