Section 4 AAC 31.021 - Applications for grants for capital improvement projects(a) A school district, as the term "district" is defined in AS 14.11.135, may apply for no more than 10 capital improvement grants under AS 14.11.011 no later than September 1 of the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year for which the request is made. The application shall be made on forms prescribed by the commissioner and be accompanied by the school district's current six-year capital improvement plan prepared under 4 AAC 31.011, and the chief school administrator must certify that the application is submitted in accordance with law.(c) A grant application that includes new construction, addition of space, or replacement of space must include verification that (1) the enrollment of the attendance area will reach the design capacity of existing school facilities within two years;(2) the situation cannot be relieved by adjusting the boundaries of service areas and transporting the children to nearby schools;(3) as demonstrated by commonly accepted demographic techniques resulting in population projections accepted as reasonable by the department, the proposed facility will reach and sustain design capacity within five years after the anticipated occupancy date; and(d) If a school district wants to request a waiver of local contribution for a grant allowable under AS 14.11.008, that district shall make a request in its grant application and include the basis for that request in that application.(e) Using the criteria set out in 4 AAC 31.022(b), the department will score each application and use the score to assign a priority ranking to the projects approved for eligibility. The department may annually approve a school district's request to reuse an original application and its score for up to five additional years after the year the original application is submitted, if, for a school capital project listed in the district's six-year capital improvement plan, (1) the school district identifies, in a letter accompanying the six-year plan, the specific application for which the district requests consideration beyond the initial application period;(2) the chief school administrator certifies in writing that the district's eligibility for any additional square footage associated with the project has not decreased; and(3) for requests to reuse the application and score(A) for the first additional year,(i) the physical condition of a facility included in the project has not deteriorated so as to increase the project's cost to exceed the amount determined by application of the inflation factor under (f) of this section; and(ii) health and life safety conditions and code conditions have not changed so as to affect the project's score under 4 AAC 31.022(b); or(B) in years two through five after the year of the original application, the project construction is substantially complete at the time of the original application; an inflation factor under (f) of this section will not be added to the project cost when an application is reused under this subparagraph.(f) If, under (e) of this section, the department approves a district's reuse of its previous year's application and score for one additional year after the year the original application is filed, the department will add an inflation factor based on an industry-accepted method to costs anticipated to occur after the award of the grant. (g) If, under (e) of this section, a district reuses its original application and score for one or more additional years after the year the original application is filed, the district may not appeal its priority ranking in any of the additional years.(h) A grant application must include certification that insurance or a program of self-insurance exists under 4 AAC 31.200 - 4 AAC 31.225 and will be revised, if necessary, to include the proposed facility.Eff. 8/31/90, Register 115; am 8/12/93, Register 127; am 3/10/96, Register 137; am 4/17/98, Register 146; am 7/13/2000, Register 155; am 12/19/2002, Register 164; am 6/17/2010, Register 194; am 11/28/2019, Register 232, January 2020Authority:AS 14.07.060
AS 14.11.008
AS 14.11.011
AS 14.11.013
AS 14.11.132