Sec. 10-266t. Grants for extended school building hours for academic enrichment and support and recreation programs.
Sec. 10-266t. Grants for extended school building hours for academic enrichment and support and recreation programs. (a) The Commissioner of Education
shall award grants annually, in accordance with this section and section 10-266u, to
local and regional boards of education identified as priority school districts pursuant to
section 10-266p. In addition, for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2000, and June 30,
2001, the commissioner shall provide a grant to any local or regional board of education
in a town which does not qualify for a grant pursuant to subsection (a) of section 10-266p for said fiscal years but does qualify for a grant pursuant to subsection (b) of said
section for said fiscal years. The grants shall provide funds for extended school building
hours for public schools in such districts for academic enrichment and support, and
recreation programs for students in the districts. Such programs may be conducted in
buildings other than public school buildings, provided the board of education is able to
demonstrate to the commissioner that the facility in which the program will be run can
adequately support the academic goals of the program and a plan is in place to provide
adequate academic instruction.
(b) The Commissioner of Education shall provide a grant estimate annually to each
priority school district. The estimated grant shall be calculated as follows: Each district's
average daily membership, as defined in subdivision (2) of section 10-261, divided by
the total of all priority school districts' average daily membership, multiplied by the
amount appropriated for the grant program minus the amounts specified in subsections
(a) and (b) of section 10-266u.
(c) (1) Annually, each such district shall file a grant application with the Commissioner of Education, in such form and at such time as he prescribes. The application
shall identify the local distribution of funds by school and operator, with program specification, hours and days of operation.
(2) Each such district shall solicit applications for individual school programs, on
a competitive basis, from town and nonprofit agencies, prioritize the applications and
select applications for funding within the total grant amount allocated to the district.
District decisions to fund individual school programs shall be based on specified criteria
including: (A) Total hours of operation, (B) number of students served, (C) total student
hours of service, (D) total program cost, (E) estimate of volunteer hours, or other sources
of support, (F) community involvement, commitment and support, (G) nonduplication
of existing services, (H) needs of the student body of the school, (I) unique qualities of
the proposal and (J) responsiveness to the requirements of this section and section 10-266u. Each district shall submit to the commissioner all proposals received as part of
its grant application and documentation of the review and ranking process for such
proposals.
(3) Grants to individual school programs shall be limited to a range of twenty to
eighty thousand dollars per school, based on school enrollment.
(d) Each district, shall: (1) Demonstrate, in its grant application, that a district-wide
and school building needs assessment was conducted, including an inventory of existing
academic enrichment and support, and recreational opportunities available during nonschool hours both within and outside of school buildings; (2) ensure equal program
access for all students and necessary accommodations and support for students with
disabilities; (3) provide a summer component, unless it is able to document that sufficient
summer opportunity already exists; (4) include in its application a schedule and total
number of hours that it determines to be reasonable and sufficient for individual school
programs; (5) support no less than ten per cent of the cost of the total district-wide
extended school building hours program and provide documentation of local dollars or
in-kind contributions, or both; and (6) contract for the direct operation of the program,
unless it is able to document that no providers are interested or able to provide a cost
efficient program.
(e) All programs funded pursuant to this section shall: (1) Offer both academic
enrichment and support and recreation experiences, (2) be open to all resident students
in the district, (3) be designed to ensure communication with the child's teacher and ties
to the regular school curriculum, (4) be clearly articulated with structured and specified
experiences for children but able to accommodate the irregular participation of any one
child, (5) provide for community involvement, (6) investigate the use of the National
Service Corps, (7) coordinate operations and activities with existing programs and the
agencies which operate such programs, (8) provide for parent involvement in program
planning and the use of parents as advisers and volunteers, and (9) provide for business
involvement or sponsorship. Programs within a district may vary in terms of times of
operation and nature of the program. All programs which operate in a public school
shall have access to existing special facilities and equipment in the public school and
shall have the written endorsement of the school principal and superintendent of schools
for the school district.
(f) Grant funds may be used to hire personnel to provide for the instruction and
supervision of children and for necessary support costs such as food, program supplies,
equipment and materials, direct cost of building maintenance, personnel supervision
and transportation but shall not be used for indirect costs.
(g) The Commissioner of Education may negotiate the contents of a district's grant
application or refuse to authorize a grant if he finds the proposal costs are not reasonable
or necessary or the selection of specific local building programs over others was not
justified by the process and the data.
(h) Notwithstanding subsections (d) and (e) of this section, a school district may
charge fees for participation in after-school academic enrichment, support or recreational programs, provided the fees are calculated on a sliding scale based on ability to
pay and no fee exceeds seventy-five per cent of the average cost of participation. No
school district may exclude a student from participation in such after-school academic
enrichment, support and recreational programs due to inability to pay a fee.
(May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-6, S. 2, 28; P.A. 96-178, S. 7, 18; P.A. 99-224, S. 5, 9; P.A. 00-220, S. 16, 23, 43; P.A. 03-174,
S. 14; P.A. 04-26, S. 5.)
History: May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-6 effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 96-178 amended Subsec. (a) to add provision for a grant
for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1996, for towns which do not qualify for a grant pursuant to Sec. 10-266p(a) but do
qualify for a grant pursuant to Sec. 10-266p(b), effective May 31, 1996; P.A. 99-224 amended Subsec. (a) to provide for
the payment of grants for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2000, and June 30, 2001, to school district that do not qualify
for a grant pursuant to Sec. 10-266p(a) but do qualify for a grant pursuant to Sec. 10-266p(b), and removed obsolete
language, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 00-220 amended Subsec. (a) to add provision re location of programs in buildings
other than public school buildings and amended Subsec. (e) to make technical changes, effective July 1, 2000; P.A. 03-174 added Subsec. (h) re fees for participation in after-school programs, effective July 1, 2003; P.A 04-26 made a technical
change in Subsec. (h), effective April 28, 2004.