APPENDIX N. School System Eligibility for Certain State Education Grant Programs.

Local School Districts

V-T Schools

Magnet Schools

Charter Schools

Education Cost Sharing (ECS) Grants - provides financial support to local school districts for basic in-school education programs (including special education)

[C.G.S. Chap. 172]

Districts receive amount based on formula that takes into consideration factors such as town wealth, state guaranteed wealth level, and number of students with certain needs; no annual amount can increase more than 6% over previous year's grant or decrease

Not applicable (See Note 1 below)

Not applicable (See Note 2 below)

Not applicable (See Note 3 below)

Excess Cost Grants - provides reimbursement if the special education costs of an individual student exceed a specific amount; there is no overall cap on program expenditures

[C.G.S. Sec. 10-76g (a) and (b)]

Districts receive money when expenditures for individual student is five times higher than specified average cost, currently ~$8,000 (for state-initiated placements, all expenses above the average are reimbursable)

Not eligible (but have not had students that would qualify)

Sending district is responsible

Town where student lives is responsible

Equity Grants - provides reimbursement when the special education costs of all students in a district as a percentage of total education costs exceed the state average; total program funds are capped annually

[C.G.S. Sec. 10-76g (c)]

Districts receive money on proportional basis that takes into consideration their ECS ratio and the total amount of grant funds available

Not eligible

Sending district is responsible

Town where student lives is responsible

School Building Project Grants - reimburses eligible school construction costs for projects on Department of Education's "Annual School Construction Priority List"

[C.G.S. Chap. 173]

Towns receive proportion of expenditures, ranging from 20-80%, based on town wealth, with bonuses of 5-10% available for certain types of projects, but with overall maximum rate of 85% (rates for districts are based on weighted average of component towns)

Eligible for 100%

Eligible for up to 100%

Not eligible

NOTES:

¹ Funded as part of General Fund appropriation given to the Department of Education (C.G.S. Sec. 10-76q specifies State Board of Education responsibilities for identifying and providing suitable programs for children enrolled in v-t schools who require special education)

² Awarded operating grants on competitive basis using formula that considers proportion of enrolled students from participating districts.

³ Receive payments from local boards of education, if local charter school, and from the state, if state charter school.

Sources of data: Interviews with state Department of Education staff, department documents, state statutes, and Office of Legislative Research memos.