March 31, 2005 |
2005-R-0371 | |
SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS | ||
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By: Judith Lohman, Chief Analyst | ||
You asked three questions about school construction projects. The questions are stated and answered individually below.
How long does it usually take from initial inception of the planning process to the completion of a school?
There is no central state source of information that allows us to track school projects from inception. But the State Department of Education’s school project database shows timetables from the date the school district applied for a school construction grant to the date the state makes the final payment on the project. A survey of 29 recently completed new regular and interdistrict magnet school projects shows that the average elapsed time between the application and the final state payment was 84. 2 months, or just over seven years. The average for the 12 magnet school projects surveyed was significantly longer than for the 17 regular school projects: 8. 5 years for the magnet school projects versus 5. 5 years for the regular projects. Table 1 shows the elapsed time for each of the 29 projects.
Table 1: Time to Complete 29 New Schools
District |
School |
Project Type |
Grant Application Date |
Last State Payment |
Elapsed Time (Months) |
ACES |
Magnet Center for the Arts |
MAG |
6/15/98 |
3/10/05 |
81 |
Ansonia |
New high school |
New |
6/19/95 |
7/31/02 |
86 |
Avon |
Thompson Brook |
New |
6/29/99 |
10/29/02 |
40 |
CREC |
Metro Learning Center |
MAG |
6/28/96 |
7/22/04 |
97 |
East Hartford |
Greater Hartford International Academy |
MAG |
6/28/99 |
9/22/04 |
63 |
East Lyme |
Middle School |
New |
6/30/99 |
3/27/03 |
45 |
Farmington |
Judson Lane |
New |
6/30/99 |
3/22/05 |
69 |
Glastonbury |
Smith Middle |
New |
6/30/97 |
3/11/03 |
69 |
Hartford |
Sand Everywhere |
New |
10/7/93 |
8/19/02 |
106 |
Hartford |
Montessori Magnet |
MAG |
11/19/93 |
10/19/04 |
131 |
Hartford |
University of Hartford Magnet |
MAG |
6/30/94 |
9/21/04 |
123 |
Hartford |
East Central Middle |
New |
6/27/96 |
10/19/04 |
99 |
Hartford |
Math & Science High |
MAG |
6/30/97 |
10/19/04 |
87 |
Hartford/E. of River |
Co-op Middle Magnet |
MAG |
6/26/96 |
7/30/03 |
85 |
Meriden |
Thomas Edison Middle |
MAG |
6/20/95 |
10/1/01 |
75 |
New Britain |
Roosevelt Middle |
New |
6/28/89 |
12/10/01 |
150 |
New Haven |
Arts Magnet Middle |
MAG |
6/16/95 |
12/31/02 |
90 |
New Haven |
Career High School |
MAG |
6/16/89 |
2/03 |
164 |
New Milford |
New Milford High |
New |
6/29/95 |
11/12/02 |
91 |
Newtown |
Reed Intermediate |
New |
6/29/98 |
6/20/03 |
60 |
North Branford |
Jerome Harrison |
New |
6/23/95 |
1/21/00 |
55 |
Preston |
Elementary school |
New |
6/18/99 |
3/10/04 |
57 |
Ridgefield |
Middle school |
New |
6/22/98 |
7/1/03 |
61 |
Seymour |
Middle school |
New |
6/29/98 |
6/4/03 |
60 |
Shelton |
Intermediate school |
New |
6/25/98 |
12/28/02 |
48 |
Waterbury |
Maloney Magnet |
MAG |
9/17/92 |
2/03 |
125 |
Waterbury |
Rotella Magnet |
MAG |
6/17/96 |
10/21/04 |
100 |
Westport |
North Ave. Middle |
New |
9/4/98 |
2/28/02 |
44 |
Region 15 |
Longmeadow |
New |
5/27/93 |
2/14/00 |
81 |
How long does it take once a bond is passed in a referendum for construction to start?
As is the case with the previous question, it is not possible to answer this specific question without surveying school districts about individual projects. By law, a school district must secure authorization for the local share of a school construction project before submitting an application for a state reimbursement grant. Grant applications are due by June 30 annually. Once received, they must be reviewed by the State Department of Education and submitted to the General Assembly for approval in its next session. Thus, depending on when the local referendum is held, it takes at least a year between the local approval and General Assembly approval.
State regulations require a district to start construction within two years after the effective date of the General Assembly’s authorization or the authorization lapses. But regulations also allow the education commissioner to extend that deadline for up to another two years for good cause (Ct. State Agency Regs. , § 10-287c-12). Once that time elapses, a district can obtain further extensions from the General Assembly. OLR Report 2005-R-0177 describes the school construction grant process in greater detail.
Do the State Auditors audit the school system? Is it under their jurisdiction?
The State Department of Education typically audits districts’ school construction and other state education grant spending, not the Auditors of Public Accounts. But the Auditors also have the authority to examine the accounts and records of any town or local or regional board of education in connection with any state grant made by a state agency (CGS § 10-260a).
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