Revision: Nov. 30, 2023, 9:55 a.m.
2024 SESSION
24-2835.0
02/10
SENATE BILL [bill number]
AN ACT relative to school building aid funding.
SPONSORS: [sponsors]
COMMITTEE: [committee]
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ANALYSIS
This bill directs the department of education to develop a new school district building aid funding program.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
24-2835.0
02/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Four
AN ACT relative to school building aid funding.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 School District Building Aid.
I. The department of education is hereby directed to develop a school district building aid funding program based upon the parameters identified in this section. The program will be administered by the department, with moneys from the program to be allocated annually to each school district within the state.
II. The program shall be developed in such a manner that as of January 1 in each year, the department of education shall cause to be computed the amount of the annual grants for school district building aid available to be paid to each eligible school district in the succeeding fiscal year. The computation shall be calculated by determining the total amount of funds available in the school district building aid fund, divided by the total number of enrolled students in public and chartered public schools in the state, multiplied by the total number of such students in each school district. Funds shall only be eligible to be expended by the assigned school district. These funds shall roll over and continue to accrue each year if not expended by the assigned district.
III.(a) For construction authorized by a school district the amount of grant to the school district should be calculated based on the criteria set forth in paragraph II.
(b) The state board of education should approve the disbursement of 80 percent of the eligible grant amount upon approval of the application for school district building aid grants by the state board of education, and should disburse the balance of the grant amount upon completion of the construction and verification of the final cost of construction by the department of education.
(c) The amount of the grant to any chartered public school established in accordance with RSA 194-B:3-a should be up to 100 percent of the eligible cost of construction.
(d) Funds received from federal grants or grants from other state programs should be subtracted from total project costs when computing grants under this paragraph.
IV. For the purposes of the program, "eligible school construction projects" should mean a project including any one or more of the following for the construction of instructional facilities:
(a) Construction of a new school building, including land acquisition and development of a site.
(b) Construction of an addition to an existing building, including land acquisition and development of a site.
(c) Substantial renovations approved by the commissioner of education.
(d) Purchase and renovation of existing buildings, including land acquisition and development of a site.
(e) Security improvements.
V. The department should develop the program so that total costs for the first year do not exceed $30,000,000, of which $25,000,000 is to be appropriated from the education trust fund, and of which $5,000,000 is to be credited to the fund from the school building aid fund established pursuant to RSA 198. Each year thereafter an additional $5,000,000 shall be credited from the school building aid fund established pursuant to RSA 198 to the new school district building aid fund.
VI. The department is directed to submit a report on or before October 1, 2024 outlining the program they are directed to establish under this section. Such report shall be submitted to the governor, the speaker of the house, the senate president, and the chairs and ranking members of the house and senate education committees.