H. B. 2520
(By Delegate Williams)
[Introduced February 21, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on Education then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-9D-3, §18-9D-15 and §18-9D-16 of
the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, all relating to
the distribution of moneys by the School Building Authority;
providing that county school boards may spend authority moneys
on any school that has been included in an approved
comprehensive educational facilities plan; providing that no
one criterion, especially economies of scale, may dominate
other statutory criteria when decisions are made to award
grant moneys; and requiring the School Building Authority to
undergo legislative rule-making review and have its guidelines
approved as legislative rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-9D-3, §18-9D-15 and §18-9D-16
of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to read
as follows:
§18-9D-3. Powers of authority.
The School Building Authority has the power:
(1) To sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded;
(2) To have a seal and alter the same at pleasure;
(3) To contract to acquire and to acquire, in the name of the
authority, by purchase, lease-purchase not to exceed a term of
twenty-five years, or otherwise, real property or rights or
easements necessary or convenient for its corporate purposes and to
exercise the power of eminent domain to accomplish those purposes;
(4) To acquire, hold and dispose of real and personal property
for its corporate purposes;
(5) To make bylaws for the management and rule of its affairs
and to propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with
the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
as may be required by the provisions of this article or as may be
necessary to carry out the provisions of this article;
(6) To appoint, contract with and employ attorneys, bond
counsel, accountants, construction and financial experts,
underwriters, financial advisers, trustees and managers and such
other employees and agents as may be necessary in the judgment of
the authority and to fix their compensation: Provided, That
contracts entered into by the School Building Authority in
connection with the issuance of bonds under this article to provide
professional and technical services, including, without limitation, accounting, actuarial, underwriting, consulting, trustee, bond
counsel, legal services and contracts relating to the purchase or
sale of bonds are subject to the provisions of article three,
chapter five-a of this code:
Provided, however, That
notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, any authority of
the Attorney General of this state relating to the review of
contracts and other documents to effectuate the issuance of bonds
under this article shall be exclusively limited to the form of the
contract and document:
Provided further, That the Attorney General
of this State shall complete all reviews of contracts and documents
relating to the issuance of bonds under this article within ten
calendar days of receipt of the contract and document for review;
(7) To make contracts and to execute all instruments necessary
or convenient to effectuate the intent of and to exercise the
powers granted to it by this article;
(8) To renegotiate all contracts entered into by it whenever,
due to a change in situation, it appears to the authority that its
interests will be best served;
(9) To acquire by purchase, eminent domain or otherwise all
real property or interests in the property necessary or convenient
to accomplish the purposes of this article;
(10) To require proper maintenance and insurance of any
project authorized under this section, including flood insurance
for any facility within the one hundred year flood plain at which authority funds are expended;
(11) To charge rent for the use of all or any part of a
project or buildings at any time financed, constructed, acquired or
improved, in whole or in part, with the revenues of the Authority;
(12) To assist any county board of education that chooses to
acquire land, buildings and capital improvements to existing school
buildings and property for use as public school facilities, by
lease from a private or public lessor for a term not to exceed
twenty-five years with an option to purchase pursuant to an
investment contract with the lessor on such terms and conditions as
may be determined to be in the best interests of the Authority, the
State Board of Education and the county board of education,
consistent with the purposes of this article, by transferring Funds
to the State Board of Education as provided in subsection (d),
section fifteen of this article for the use of the county board of
education;
(13) To accept and expend any gift, grant, contribution,
bequest or endowment of money and equipment to, or for the benefit
of, the authority or any project under this article, from the State
of West Virginia or any other source for any or all of the purposes
specified in this article or for any one or more of such purposes
as may be specified in connection with the gift, grant,
contribution, bequest or endowment;
(14) To enter on any lands and premises for the purpose of making surveys, soundings and examinations;
(15) To contract for architectural, engineering or other
professional services considered necessary or economical by the a
Authority to provide consultative or other services to the
Authority or to any regional educational service agency or county
board requesting professional services offered by the Authority, to
evaluate any facilities plan or any project encompassed in the
plan, to inspect existing facilities or any project that has
received or may receive funding from the authority or to perform
any other service considered by the authority to be necessary or
economical. Assistance to the region or district may include the
development of preapproved systems, plans, designs, models or
documents; advice or oversight on any plan or project; or any other
service that may be efficiently provided to regional educational
service agencies or county boards by the authority;
(16) To provide funds on an emergency basis to repair or
replace property damaged by fire, flood, wind, storm, earthquake or
other natural occurrence, the Funds to be made available in
accordance with guidelines of the School Building Authority;
(17) To transfer moneys to custodial accounts maintained by
the School Building Authority with a state financial institution
from the school construction Fund and the school improvement Fund
created in the State Treasury pursuant to the provisions of section
six of this article, as necessary to the performance of any contracts executed by the School Building Authority in accordance
with the provisions of this article;
(18) To enter into agreements with county boards and persons,
firms or corporations to facilitate the development of county board
projects and county board facilities plans. The county board
participating in an agreement shall pay at least twenty-five
percent of the cost of the agreement. Nothing in this section
shall be construed to supersede, limit or impair supercedes, limits
or impairs the authority of county boards to develop and prepare
their projects or plans;
(19) To encourage any project or part thereof to provide
opportunities for students to participate in supervised, unpaid
work-based learning experiences related to the student's program of
study approved by the county board. The work-based learning
experience must be conducted in accordance with a formal training
plan approved by the instructor, the employer and the student and
which sets forth at a minimum the specific skills to be learned,
the required documentation of work-based learning experiences, the
conditions of the placement, including duration and safety
provisions, and provisions for supervision and liability insurance
coverage as applicable. Projects involving the new construction
and renovation of vocational-technical and adult education
facilities should provide opportunities for students to participate
in supervised work-based learning experiences, to the extent practical, which meet the requirements of this subdivision.
Nothing in this subdivision may be construed to affect registered
youth apprenticeship programs or the provisions governing those
programs; and
(20) To do all things necessary or convenient to carry out the
powers given in this article.
§18-9D-15. Legislative intent; allocation of money among
categories of projects; lease purchase options;
limitation on time period for expenditure of
project allocation; county maintenance budget
requirements; project disbursements over period of
years; preference for multicounty arrangements;
submission of project designs; set-aside to
encourage local participation; etc.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to empower the School
Building Authority to facilitate and provide State Funds and to
administer all Federal Funds provided for the construction and
major improvement of school facilities so as to meet the
educational needs of the people of this state in an efficient,
thorough and economical manner. The Authority shall make funding
determinations in accordance with the provisions of this article
and shall assess existing school facilities and each facility's
school major improvement plan in relation to the needs of the
individual student, the general school population, the communities served by the facilities and facility needs statewide.
(b) An amount that is no more than three percent of the sum of
moneys that are determined by the Authority to be available for
distribution during the then current fiscal year from: (1) Moneys
paid into the School Building Capital Improvements Fund pursuant to
section ten, article nine-a of this chapter; (2) the issuance of
revenue bonds for which moneys in the School Building Debt Service
Fund are pledged as security; (3) moneys paid into the School
Construction Fund pursuant to section six of this article; and (4)
any other moneys received by the Authority, except moneys paid into
the School Major Improvement Fund pursuant to section six of this
article, may be allocated and may be expended by the Authority for
projects authorized in accordance with the provisions of section
sixteen of this article that
service serve the educational
community statewide or, upon application by the State Board, for
educational programs that are under the jurisdiction of the State
Board. In addition, upon application by the State Board or the
administrative council of an area vocational educational center
established pursuant to article two-b of this chapter, the
authority may allocate and expend under this subsection moneys for
school major improvement projects authorized in accordance with the
provisions of section sixteen of this article proposed by the State
Board or an administrative council for school facilities under the
direct supervision of the State Board or an administrative council, respectively. Furthermore, upon application by a county board, the
authority may allocate and expend under this subsection moneys for
school major improvement projects for vocational programs at
comprehensive high schools, vocational schools cooperating with
community and technical college programs, or both. Each county
board is encouraged to cooperate with community and technical
colleges in the use of existing or development of new vocational
technical facilities. All projects eligible for Funds from this
subsection shall be submitted directly to the Authority which shall
be solely responsible for the project's evaluation:
Provided, That
the Authority may not expend any moneys for a school major
improvement project proposed by the State Board or the
administrative council of an area vocational educational center
unless the State Board or an administrative council has submitted
a ten-year facilities plan:
Provided, however, That the Authority
shall, before allocating any moneys to the State Board or the
administrative council of an area vocational educational center for
a school improvement project, consider all other funding sources
available for the project.
(c) An amount that is no more than two percent of the moneys
that are determined by the Authority to be available for
distribution during the current fiscal year from: (1) Moneys paid
into the School Building Capital Improvements Fund pursuant to
section ten, article nine-a of this chapter; (2) the issuance of revenue bonds for which moneys in the School Building Debt Service
Fund are pledged as security; (3) moneys paid into the School
Construction Fund pursuant to section six of this article; and (4)
any other moneys received by the Authority, except moneys deposited
into the School Major Improvement Fund, shall be set aside by the
Authority as an emergency fund to be distributed in accordance with
the
guidelines adopted rules proposed for legislative approval by
the authority.
(d) An amount that is no more than five percent of the moneys
that are determined by the Authority
to be available for
distribution during the current fiscal year from: (1) Moneys paid
into the School Building Capital Improvements Fund pursuant to
section ten, article nine-a of this chapter; (2) the issuance of
revenue bonds for which moneys in the School Building Debt Service
Fund are pledged as security; (3) moneys paid into the School
Construction Fund pursuant to section six of this article; and (4)
any other moneys received by the Authority, except moneys deposited
into the School Major Improvement Fund, may be reserved by the
Authority for multiuse vocational-technical education facilities
projects that may include post-secondary programs as a first
priority use. The Authority may allocate and expend under this
subsection moneys for any purposes authorized in this article on
multiuse vocational-technical education facilities projects,
including equipment and equipment updates at the facilities, authorized in accordance with the provisions of section sixteen of
this article. If the projects approved under this subsection do
not require the full amount of moneys reserved, moneys above the
amount required may be allocated and expended in accordance with
other provisions of this article. A county board, the State Board,
an administrative council or the Joint Administrative Board of a
vocational-technical education facility which includes
post-secondary programs may propose projects for facilities or
equipment, or both, which are under the direct supervision of the
respective body: Provided, That the Authority shall, before
allocating any moneys for a project under this subsection, consider
all other funding sources available for the project.
(e) The remaining moneys determined by the Authority to be
available for distribution during the then current fiscal year
from: (1) Moneys paid into the School Building Capital
Improvements Fund pursuant to section ten, article nine-a of this
chapter; (2) the issuance of revenue bonds for which moneys in the
School Building Debt Service Fund are pledged as security; (3)
moneys paid into the School Construction Fund pursuant to section
six of this article; and (4) any other moneys received by the
Authority, except moneys deposited into the School Major
Improvement Fund, shall be allocated and expended on the basis of
need and efficient use of resources for projects funded in
accordance with the provisions of section sixteen of this article.
(f) If a county board of education proposes to finance a
project that is authorized in accordance with section sixteen of
this article through a lease with an option to purchase leased
premises upon the expiration of the total lease period pursuant to
an investment contract, the Authority may allocate no moneys to the
county board in connection with the project: Provided, That the
Authority may transfer moneys to the State Board of Education
which, with the Authority, shall lend the amount transferred to the
county board to be used only for a one-time payment due at the
beginning of the lease term, made for the purpose of reducing
annual lease payments under the investment contract, subject to the
following conditions:
(1) The loan shall be secured in the manner required by the
Authority, in consultation with the State Board, and shall be
repaid in a period and bear interest at a rate as determined by the
State Board and the Authority and shall have any terms and
conditions that are required by the Authority, all of which shall
be set forth in a loan agreement among the Authority, the State
Board and the county board;
(2) The loan agreement shall provide for the State Board and
the Authority to defer the payment of principal and interest upon
any loan made to the county board during the term of the investment
contract, and annual renewals of the investment contract, among the
State Board, the Authority, the county board and a lessor: Provided, That in the event a county board which has received a
loan from the Authority for a one-time payment at the beginning of
the lease term does not renew the subject lease annually until
performance of the investment contract in its entirety is
completed, the county board is in default and the principal of the
loan, together with all unpaid interest accrued to the date of the
default, shall, at the option of the Authority, in consultation
with the State Board, become due and payable immediately or subject
to renegotiation among the State Board, the Authority and the
county board: Provided, however, That if a county board renews the
lease annually through the performance of the investment contract
in its entirety, the county board shall exercise its option to
purchase the leased premises: Provided further, That the failure
of the county board to make a scheduled payment pursuant to the
investment contract constitutes an event of default under the loan
agreement: And provided further, That upon a default by a county
board, the principal of the loan, together with all unpaid interest
accrued to the date of the default, shall, at the option of the
authority, in consultation with the State Board, become due and
payable immediately or subject to renegotiation among the State
Board, the Authority and the county board: And provided further,
That if the loan becomes due and payable immediately, the
Authority, in consultation with the State Board, shall use all
means available under the loan agreement and law to collect the outstanding principal balance of the loan, together with all unpaid
interest accrued to the date of payment of the outstanding
principal balance; and
(3) The loan agreement shall provide for the State Board and
the Authority to forgive all principal and interest of the loan
upon the county board purchasing the leased premises pursuant to
the investment contract and performance of the investment contract
in its entirety.
(g) To encourage county boards to proceed promptly with
facilities planning and to prepare for the expenditure of any state
moneys derived from the sources described in this section, any
county board or other entity to whom moneys are allocated by the
Authority that fails to expend the money within three years of the
allocation shall forfeit the allocation and thereafter is
ineligible for further allocations pursuant to this section until
it is ready to expend funds in accordance with an approved
facilities plan: Provided, That the Authority may authorize an
extension beyond the three-year forfeiture period not to exceed an
additional two years. Any amount forfeited shall be added to the
total funds available in the School Construction Fund of the
Authority for future allocation and distribution. Funds may not be
distributed for any project under this article unless the
responsible entity has a facilities plan approved by the State
Board and the School Building Authority and is prepared to commence expenditure of the funds during the fiscal year in which the moneys
are distributed.
(h) The remaining moneys that are determined by the Authority
to be available for distribution during the then current fiscal
year from moneys paid into the school major improvement Fund
pursuant to section six of this article shall be allocated and
distributed on the basis of need and efficient use of resources for
projects authorized in accordance with the provisions of section
sixteen of this article: Provided, That the moneys may not be
distributed for any project under this section unless the
responsible entity has a facilities plan approved by the State
Board and the Authority and is to commence expenditures of the
Funds during the fiscal year in which the moneys are distributed:
Provided, however, That any moneys allocated to a project and not
distributed for that project shall be deposited in an account to
the credit of the project, the principal amount to remain to the
credit of and available to the project for a period of two years.
Any moneys which are unexpended after a two-year period shall be
redistributed on the basis of need from the School Major
Improvement Fund in that fiscal year.
(i) No local matching funds may be required under the
provisions of this section. However, the responsibilities of the
county boards of education to maintain school facilities are not
negated by the provisions of this article. To be eligible to receive an allocation of school major improvement Funds from the
Authority, a county board must have expended in the previous fiscal
year an amount of county moneys equal to or exceeding the lowest
average amount of money included in the county board's maintenance
budget over any three of the previous five years and must have
budgeted an amount equal to or greater than the average in the
current fiscal year: Provided, That the State Board shall
promulgate rules relating to county boards' maintenance budgets,
including items which shall be included in the budgets.
(j) Any county board may use moneys provided by the Authority
under this article in conjunction with local funds derived from
bonding, special levy or other sources. Distribution to a county
board, or to the State Board or the administrative council of an
area vocational educational center pursuant to subsection (b) of
this section, may be in a lump sum or in accordance with a schedule
of payments adopted by the authority pursuant to guidelines adopted
by the Authority.
(k) Funds in the School Construction Fund shall first be
transferred and expended as follows:
Any funds deposited in the School Construction Fund shall be
expended first in accordance with an appropriation by the
Legislature. To the extent that funds are available in the School
Construction Fund in excess of that amount appropriated in any
fiscal year, the excess funds may be expended for projects authorized in accordance with the provisions of section sixteen of
this article. Any projects which the Authority identified and
announced for funding on or before the first day of August, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-five, or identified and announced for
funding on or before the thirty-first day of December, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-five, shall be funded by the Authority in an
amount which is not less than the amount specified when the project
was identified and announced.
(l) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage county
boards to explore and consider arrangements with other counties
that may facilitate the highest and best use of all available
funds, which may result in improved transportation arrangements for
students or which otherwise may create efficiencies for county
boards and the students. In order to address the intent of the
Legislature contained in this subsection, the Authority shall grant
preference to those projects which involve multicounty arrangements
as the Authority shall determine reasonable and proper.
(m) County boards shall submit all designs for construction of
new school buildings to the School Building Authority for review
and approval prior to preparation of final bid documents:
Provided, That a vendor who has been debarred pursuant to the
provisions of sections thirty-three-a through thirty-three-f,
inclusive, article three, chapter five-a of this code, may not bid
on or be awarded a contract under this section.
(n) The Authority may elect to disburse funds for approved
construction projects over a period of more than one year subject
to the following:
(1) The Authority may not approve the funding of a school
construction project over a period of more than three years;
(2) The Authority may not approve the use of more than fifty
percent of the revenue available for distribution in any given
fiscal year for projects that are to be funded over a period of
more than one year; and
(3) In order to encourage local participation in funding
school construction projects, the Authority may set aside limited
funding, not to exceed five hundred thousand dollars, in reserve
for one additional year to provide a county the opportunity to
complete financial planning for a project prior to the allocation
of construction funds. Any funding shall be on a reserve basis and
converted to a part of the construction grant only after all
project budget funds have been secured and all county commitments
have been fulfilled. Failure of the county to solidify the project
budget and meet its obligations to the state within eighteen months
of the date the funding is set aside by the Authority will result
in expiration of the reserve and the funds shall be reallocated by
the Authority in the succeeding funding cycle.
§18-9D-16. Authority to establish guidelines and procedures for
facilities and major improvement plans; guidelines for modifications and updates, etc.; guidelines for
project evaluation; submission of certified list of
projects to be funded; department on-site inspection
of facilities; enforcement of required changes or
additions to project plans.
(a) The Authority shall establish guidelines and procedures to
promote the intent and purposes of this article and assure the
prudent and resourceful expenditure of state funds for projects
under this article including, but not limited to, the following:
(1) Guidelines and procedures for the facilities plans, school
major improvement plans and projects submitted in the furtherance
of the plans that address, but are not limited to, the following:
(A) All of the elements of the respective plans as defined in
section two of this article;
(B) The procedures for a county to submit a preliminary plan,
a plan outline or a proposal for a plan to the Authority prior to
the submission of the facilities plan. The preliminary plan, plan
outline or proposal for a plan shall be the basis for a
consultation meeting between representatives of the county and
members of the Authority, including at least one citizen member,
which shall be held promptly following submission of the
preliminary plan, plan outline or proposal for a plan to assure
understanding of the general goals of this article and the
objective criteria by which projects will be evaluated, to discuss ways the plan may be structured to meet those goals, and to assure
efficiency and productivity in the project approval process;
(C) The manner, time line and process for the submission of
each plan and annual plan updates to the Authority;
(D) The requirements for public hearings, comments or other
means of providing broad-based input on plans and projects under
this article within a reasonable time period as the Authority may
consider appropriate. The submission of each plan must be
accompanied by a synopsis of all comments received and a formal
comment by the county board, the State Board or the administrative
council of an area vocational educational center submitting the
plan;
(E) Any project specifications and maintenance specifications
considered appropriate by the Authority including, but not limited
to, such matters as energy efficiency, preferred siting,
construction materials, maintenance plan and any other matter
related to how the project is to proceed;
(F) A prioritization by the county board, the State Board or
the administrative council submitting the plan of each project
contained in the plan. In prioritizing the projects, the county
board, the State Board or the administrative council submitting the
plan shall make determinations in accordance with the objective
criteria formulated by the School Building Authority in accordance
with this section. The priority list is one of the criteria that shall be considered by the Authority deciding how the available
Funds should be expended;
(G) The objective means to be set forth in the plan and used
in evaluating implementation of the overall plan and each project
included in the plan. The evaluation must measure how the plan
addresses the goals of this article and any guidelines adopted
under this article, and how each project is in furtherance of the
facilities plan and School Major Improvement Plan, as applicable,
as well as the importance of the project to the overall success of
the facilities plan or school major improvement plan and the
overall goals of the Authority; and
(H) Any other matters considered by the Authority to be
important reflections of how a construction project or a major
improvement project or projects will further the overall goals of
this article.
(2) Guidelines and procedures which may be adopted by the
Authority for requiring that a county board modify, update,
supplement or otherwise submit changes or additions to an approved
facilities plan or for requiring that a county board, the State
Board or the administrative council of an area vocational
educational center modify, update, supplement or otherwise submit
changes or additions to an approved school major improvement plan.
The Authority shall provide reasonable notification and sufficient
time for the change or addition as delineated in guidelines developed by the Authority.
(3) Guidelines and procedures for evaluating project proposals
that are submitted to the Authority that address, but are not
limited to, the following:
(A) Any project funded by the Authority must be in furtherance
of the facilities plan or school major improvement plan and in
compliance with the guidelines established by the Authority;
(B) If a project is to benefit more than one county in the
region, the facilities plan must state the manner in which the cost
and funding of the project will be apportioned among the counties;
(C) If a county board proposes to finance a construction
project through a lease with an option to purchase pursuant to an
investment contract as described in subsection (f), section fifteen
of this article, the specifications for the project must include
the term of the lease, the amount of each lease payment, including
the payment due upon exercise of the option to purchase, and the
terms and conditions of the proposed investment contract; and
(D) The objective criteria for the evaluation of projects
which shall include, but are not limited to, the following:
(i) How the current facilities do not meet and how the plan
and any project under the plan meets the following:
(I) Student health and safety including, but not limited to,
critical health and safety needs;
(II) Economies of scale, including compatibility with similar schools that have achieved the most economical organization,
facility use and pupil-teacher ratios taking into account that
population sparsity affects school sizes, transportation times and
costs;
(III) Reasonable travel time and practical means of addressing
other demographic considerations: Provided, That maximum
reasonable travel times are thirty minutes for kindergarten through
grade five, forty-five minutes for grades six through eight and
sixty minutes for grades nine through twelve;
(IV) Multicounty and regional planning to achieve the most
effective and efficient instructional delivery system;
(V) Curriculum improvement and diversification, including the
use of instructional technology, distance learning and access to
advanced courses in science, mathematics, language arts and social
studies;
(VI) Innovations in education;
(VII) Adequate space for projected student enrollments;
(VIII) The history of efforts taken by the county board to
propose or adopt local school bond issues or special levies to the
extent constitutionally permissible; and
(IX) Regularly scheduled preventive maintenance; and
(ii) How the project will assure the prudent and resourceful
expenditure of State Funds and achieve the purposes of this article
for constructing, expanding, renovating or otherwise improving and maintaining school facilities for a thorough and efficient
education.
(4) Guidelines and procedures for evaluating projects for
funding that address, but are not limited to, the following:
(A) Requiring each county board's facilities plan and school
major improvement plan to prioritize all the construction projects
or major improvement projects, respectively, within the county. A
school major improvement plan submitted by the State Board or the
administrative council of an area vocational educational center
shall prioritize all the school improvement projects contained in
the plan. The priority list shall be one of the criteria to be
considered by the Authority in determining how available funds
shall be expended. In prioritizing the projects, the county board,
the State Board or the administrative council submitting a plan
shall make determinations in accordance with the objective criteria
formulated by the School Building Authority;
(B) The return to each county submitting a project proposal an
explanation of the evaluative factors underlying the decision of
the Authority to fund or not to fund the project; and
(C) The allocation and expenditure of funds in accordance with
this article, subject to the availability of funds.
(b) Prior to final action on approving projects for funding
under this article, the Authority shall submit a certified list of
the projects to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.
(c) The State Department of Education shall conduct on-site *
inspections, at least annually, of all facilities which have been
funded wholly or in part by moneys from the Authority or State
Board to ensure compliance with the county board's facilities plan
and school major improvement plan as related to the facilities; to
preserve the physical integrity of the facilities to the extent
possible; and to otherwise extend the useful life of the
facilities: Provided, That the State Board shall submit reports
regarding its on-site inspections of facilities to the Authority
within thirty days of completion of the on-site inspections:
Provided, however, That the State Board shall promulgate rules
regarding the on-site inspections and matters relating thereto, in
consultation with the Authority, as soon as practical and shall
submit proposed rules for legislative review no later than the
first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-four.
(d) Based on its on-site inspection or notification by the
Authority to the State Board that the changes or additions to a
county's board facilities plan or school major improvement plan
required by the Authority have not been implemented within the time
period prescribed by the Authority, the State Board shall restrict
the use of the necessary funds or otherwise allocate Funds from
moneys appropriated by the Legislature for those purposes set forth
in section nine, article nine-a of this chapter.
(e) In proposing rules for the distribution of school building funds, as required under the provisions of this article, the
Authority shall comply with all provisions relating to legislative
rules as set forth in article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this
code. Guidelines previously adopted by the Authority are invalid
and without effect until such time as the Authority has proposed
those guidelines as legislative rules and the rules have been
approved for promulgation by the Legislature.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to amend certain provisions
relating to the award and distribution of grant moneys from the
School Building Authority. It provides that county school boards
may spend authority moneys on any school that has been included in
an approved comprehensive educational facilities plan. It makes
explicit that no one criterion, especially economies of scale, may
dominate other statutory criteria when decisions are made to award
grant moneys. Finally, it requires the School Building Authority
to undergo legislative rule-making review and have its guidelines
approved as legislative rules.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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