LCO No. 6303 1 of 7
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7239
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 6303
Referred to Committee on FINANCE, REVENUE AND
BONDING
Introduced by:
(FIN)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT REPAIR AND
IMPROVEMENT PROJECT PROGRAM.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2025) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Public school operator" means any (A) local or regional board of 2
education, (B) regional educational service center, (C) interdistrict 3
magnet school operator described in section 10-264s of the general 4
statutes, (D) endowed academy approved pursuant to section 10-34 of 5
the general statutes, or (E) state charter school; 6
(2) "District repair and improvement project" means a capital 7
expenditure project, approved by a public school operator, for any of 8
the following: (A) The construction, renovation, repair or enlargement 9
of school buildings or school grounds, including parking lots, athletic 10
fields and playgrounds; (B) improvements to school facilities for 11
compliance with health, safety or code requirements; or (C) the 12
purchase, installation or maintenance of or improvements to fixed 13
school infrastructure, including, but not limited to, heating, ventilation 14
Raised Bill No. 7239
LCO No. 6303 2 of 7
and air conditioning systems, plumbing, electrical systems and roofing; 15
(3) "Number of students enrolled" means the number of all students 16
enrolled in a school or schools, as applicable, under the jurisdiction of a 17
public school operator on October first or the full school day 18
immediately preceding such date; 19
(4) "Number of students eligible for free or reduced price meals or 20
free milk" means the number of students enrolled in a school or schools, 21
as applicable, under the jurisdiction of a public school operator on 22
October first or the full school day immediately preceding such date, in 23
families that meet the income eligibility guidelines established by the 24
federal Department of Agriculture for free or reduced price meals or free 25
milk under the National School Lunch Program, established pursuant 26
to P.L. 79-396; and 27
(5) "Total need students" means the sum of: (A) The number of 28
students enrolled for the school year; (B) thirty per cent of the number 29
of students eligible for free or reduced price meals or free milk; (C) 30
fifteen per cent of the number of students eligible for free or reduced 31
price meals or free milk in excess of the number of students eligible for 32
free or reduced price meals that is equal to sixty per cent of the total 33
number of resident students of the town for the school year; (D) twenty-34
five per cent of the number of students enrolled who are multilingual 35
learners, as defined in section 10-17o of the general statutes; and (E) 36
thirty per cent of the number of students enrolled who require special 37
education, as defined in section 10-76a of the general statutes. 38
(b) (1) On February first of each year, not more than the amount as 39
authorized by the General Assembly for the fiscal year from the 40
resources of the district repair and improvement account established 41
under subsection (h) of this section shall be allocated to the Secretary of 42
the Office of Policy and Management, who shall allocate an amount to 43
each public school operator in accordance with the provisions of 44
subsection (c) of this section. The secretary shall credit all such allocated 45
Raised Bill No. 7239
LCO No. 6303 3 of 7
moneys to a subaccount for each public school operator and make 46
district repair and improvement project grants from such subaccounts 47
to such public school operator pursuant to the provisions of this section. 48
The secretary shall maintain records indicating, for each public school 49
operator's subaccount, the amount credited to the subaccount each year, 50
the amount paid out in district repair and improvement project grants 51
and charged to the subaccount and the balance available for additional 52
district repair and improvement project grants. 53
(2) No amounts allocated under this section shall be used to satisfy a 54
local matching requirement for any state assistance program or for any 55
school building project under section 10-283 of the general statutes. 56
(c) (1) Each allocation under subsection (b) of this section shall be 57
made to a public school operator in accordance with the following 58
formula: (A) Fifty per cent of the amount shall be allocated pro rata on 59
the basis of the following ratio: The public school operator's total need 60
students enrolled in a school or schools, as applicable, under the 61
jurisdiction of the public school operator for the fiscal year prior to the 62
year in which the grant is to be paid to the total need students enrolled 63
in all such schools in the state for the fiscal year prior to the year in which 64
the grant is to be paid; (B) twenty per cent of the amount shall be 65
allocated equally among all public school operators; and (C) thirty per 66
cent of the amount shall be allocated pro rata on the basis of the 67
following ratio: The total number of students enrolled in a school or 68
schools, as applicable, under the jurisdiction of a public school operator 69
for the fiscal year prior to the year in which the grant is to be paid 70
multiplied by the inverse of the adjusted equalized net grand list per 71
capita of such public school operator, which shall be the numerator of 72
the fraction, and the sum of the resulting products for all the schools 73
under the jurisdiction of a public school operator, which shall be the 74
denominator of the fraction. 75
(2) For the purposes of this subsection, the adjusted equalized net 76
grand list per capita of a public school operator shall be determined as 77
Raised Bill No. 7239
LCO No. 6303 4 of 7
follows: 78
(A) For a local board of education, the adjusted equalized net grand 79
list per capita shall be the same as the adjusted equalized net grand list 80
per capita, as defined in section 10-261 of the general statutes, of the 81
town of such board; 82
(B) For a regional board of education, a regional educational service 83
center, an interdistrict magnet school operator described in section 10-84
264s of the general statutes or an endowed academy, the adjusted 85
equalized net grand list per capita shall be determined by such entity's 86
rank under section 10-285a of the general statutes, where the adjusted 87
equalized net grand list per capita shall be the same as the adjusted 88
equalized net grand list per capita of a town with the same ranking; and 89
(C) For a charter school, the adjusted equalized net grand list per 90
capita shall be the same as the adjusted equalized net grand list per 91
capita, as defined in section 10-261 of the general statutes, of the town 92
in which such charter school is located. 93
(d) On March first of each year, the Secretary of the Office of Policy 94
and Management shall notify each public school operator of the amount 95
allocated to such public school operator pursuant to subsections (b) and 96
(c) of this section and shall post on said office's Internet web site such 97
allocation amounts and the calculations for all public school operators. 98
(e) Allocated moneys credited to the subaccount of a public school 99
operator in accordance with subsection (b) of this section shall be issued 100
as a grant by the secretary to the public school operator not later than 101
June thirtieth of each fiscal year. Such public school operator shall use 102
such grants for reimbursement and costs associated with district repair 103
and improvement projects. 104
(f) Not later than September 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, each 105
public school operator issued a grant pursuant to subsection (e) of this 106
section in the preceding fiscal year shall submit a report to the Secretary 107
Raised Bill No. 7239
LCO No. 6303 5 of 7
of the Office of Policy and Management, in a form and manner 108
prescribed by the secretary, describing each district repair and 109
improvement project for which amounts were expended in such fiscal 110
year and the amounts expended for each such project. Such report shall 111
include a certification by the public school operator that (1) the district 112
repair and improvement project was approved by the public school 113
operator or a board, council or other body responsible for overseeing 114
such project, and (2) no grant money allocated under this section to such 115
public school operator for such fiscal year was used to satisfy a local 116
matching requirement for any state assistance program or for any school 117
building project under section 10-283 of the general statutes. The 118
secretary shall post all reports submitted pursuant to this subsection on 119
said office's Internet web site. 120
(g) Each public school operator receiving a district repair and 121
improvement project grant under this section shall retain, for a period 122
of not less than three years following the completion of such project, 123
detailed accounting records of all expenses incurred relative to the 124
district repair and improvement project for which a grant is received. If 125
the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management determines that 126
such records are not maintained or a review of such records indicates 127
that such grant, or any portion thereof, was used for other than its 128
intended purpose, the secretary shall provide written notification to the 129
public school operator of such finding. Upon issuing a finding under 130
this section, the secretary may require the public school operator to 131
promptly pay to the state an amount equal to the amount of the grant or 132
may cause the amount of any future grant made under this section to be 133
reduced by such amount. 134
(h) There is established an account to be known as the "district repair 135
and improvement account", which shall be a separate, nonlapsing 136
account. The account shall contain any moneys required by law to be 137
deposited in the account. Moneys in the account shall be expended by 138
the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management for the purposes 139
of this section. 140
Raised Bill No. 7239
LCO No. 6303 6 of 7
(i) For the purposes described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, 141
the State Bond Commission shall have the power from time to time to 142
authorize the issuance of bonds of the state in one or more series and in 143
principal amounts not exceeding in the aggregate sixty million dollars, 144
provided thirty million dollars of said authorization shall be effective 145
July 1, 2025. 146
(j) The proceeds of the sale of such bonds, to the extent of the amount 147
stated in subsection (i) of this section, shall be used by the Office of 148
Policy and Management for the purposes of subsections (b) and (c) of 149
this section. 150
(k) All provisions of section 3-20 of the general statutes, or the 151
exercise of any right or power granted thereby, that are not inconsistent 152
with the provisions of this section are hereby adopted and shall apply 153
to all bonds authorized by the State Bond Commission pursuant to this 154
section. Temporary notes in anticipation of the money to be derived 155
from the sale of any such bonds so authorized may be issued in 156
accordance with section 3-20 of the general statutes and from time to 157
time renewed. Such bonds shall mature at such time or times not 158
exceeding twenty years from their respective dates as may be provided 159
in or pursuant to the resolution or resolutions of the State Bond 160
Commission authorizing such bonds. None of such bonds shall be 161
authorized except upon a finding by the State Bond Commission that 162
there has been filed with it a request for such authorization that is signed 163
by or on behalf of the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management 164
and states such terms and conditions as said commission, in its 165
discretion, may require. Such bonds issued pursuant to this section shall 166
be general obligations of the state and the full faith and credit of the state 167
of Connecticut are pledged for the payment of the principal of and 168
interest on such bonds as the same become due, and accordingly and as 169
part of the contract of the state with the holders of such bonds, 170
appropriation of all amounts necessary for punctual payment of such 171
principal and interest is hereby made, and the State Treasurer shall pay 172
such principal and interest as the same become due. 173
Raised Bill No. 7239
LCO No. 6303 7 of 7
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a district repair and improvement project program and
authorize state bonds to fund such program.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]