§ 6-20-2504 - Academic Facilities Immediate Repair Program. - Arkansas Statutes

6-20-2504. Academic Facilities Immediate Repair Program.

(a) There is established the Academic Facilities Immediate Repair Program under which the Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation shall provide school districts with state financial participation for eligible repair projects based on the school district's academic facilities wealth index.

(b) A school district may apply for state financial participation in an immediate repair project if:

(1) The school district's application is received by the division no later than July 1, 2005;

(2) The condition for which the repair is needed was in existence on January 1, 2005;

(3) The facility condition index of the academic facility involved in the proposed repair project is less than a threshold amount determined by the division; and

(4) The repair project involves one (1) or more of the following:

(A) Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems;

(B) Floors;

(C) Roofs;

(D) Sewage systems;

(E) Water supplies;

(F) Asbestos abatement;

(G) Fire alarm systems;

(H) Exterior doors;

(I) Emergency exit or egress passageway lighting;

(J) Academic program or facility accessibility for individuals with disabilities; and

(K) Any other repair to a building system necessary to satisfy life safety code requirements as determined by the division.

(c) As part of its application for state financial participation in an immediate repair project, a school district shall provide the division with evidence of:

(1) The deficiency in need of correction and how it presents an immediate hazard to:

(A) The health or safety of students, teachers, administrators, or staff of a school district;

(B) The integrity of the public school academic facility with regard to meeting minimum health and safety standards; or

(C) The extraordinary deterioration of the public school academic facility;

(2) The estimated cost of the immediate repair project, which shall be a minimum of one hundred dollars ($100) per student or fifty thousand dollars ($50,000), whichever is less;

(3) The availability of insurance and any other public or private emergency assistance to pay for the immediate repair project; and

(4) Whether or not the academic facility is reasonably expected to close or be substantially replaced within three (3) years.

(d) (1) The division shall evaluate a school district's immediate repair application and may conduct an on-site inspection prior to making a decision on the application as it deems necessary.

(2) The division shall notify the school district of the division's decision on the application and, if applicable, the amount of state financial participation. The division shall base its decision on several factors, including, without limitation:

(A) The seriousness of the deficiency that the immediate repair project is intended to correct;

(B) Compliance with current academic facility standards, including, without limitation, appropriate space utilization;

(C) The amount and availability of insurance and any other public or private emergency assistance;

(D) Whether the academic facility is reasonably expected to close or be substantially replaced within three (3) years;

(E) The academic facilities wealth index of the school district; and

(F) The prudent and resourceful expenditure of state funds with regard to public school academic facilities.

(e) (1) (A) If a school district qualifies for state financial participation under this section, the division shall certify the amount of state financial participation to the Commission for Arkansas Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation for oversight purposes.

(B) The commission shall certify the amount to the Department of Education for payment.

(2) For tracking purposes, the school district shall account for the funds received as state financial participation under this section as restricted funds and shall account for the funds in accordance with provisions of law, including, without limitation, the Arkansas Educational Financial Accounting and Reporting Act of 2004, 6-20-2201 et seq., and rules established by the State Board of Education and the commission.

(f) Every effort shall be made to conform an immediate repair project to current academic facilities standards, including, without limitation, appropriate space utilization requirements, unless in the judgment of the division it is impractical to conform the immediate repair project to current standards.

(g) A school district shall use state financial participation in an immediate repair project to pay the cost of only the portion of an immediate repair project that is not covered by insurance or other public or private emergency assistance received by or payable to the school district.

(h) (1) Within thirty (30) days after the completion of all approved immediate repair projects, the division shall certify to the commission that all approved immediate repair projects have been completed and all approved state financial participation under this section has been distributed.

(2) Upon acceptance by the commission of the division's certification, the Academic Facilities Immediate Repair Program shall expire.

(3) An approved project that is not verified as being complete by January 1, 2008, shall be declared canceled by the commission and program funds shall be reallocated as the commission directs.