Section 151.120  Application for School Maintenance Project Grants

An eligible applicant may apply for a grant by submitting an application electronically in a format prescribed by the State Superintendent.  A separate application shall be submitted for each project for which the applicant seeks a grant award.

a)         Except as provided under subsection (e) of this Section, an application shall be submitted electronically to the regional office of education at least two weeks prior to the application deadline announced by the State Superintendent for the fiscal year for which the grant is sought.  The regional superintendent shall review and electronically forward the application to the State Superintendent by the application deadline.

b)         Each application shall include the following information.

1)         The names, addresses, and descriptions of the facilities included in the project.

2)         A narrative description of the nature and scope of the project, including the starting and completion dates for the project.

3)         The total cost of the project, amount and source of local matching funds (using the revenue and account codes set forth at 23 Ill. Adm. Code 100 (Requirements for Accounting, Budgeting, Financial Reporting, and Auditing)), and the requested grant amount.

4)         The priority category of the project (see Section 151.130(b)(2) of this Part).

A)        For an emergency project, the applicant shall indicate the date and nature of the emergency and the extent of building damage.

B)        For a health/life safety project necessary to correct a code violation, the applicant shall identify the health/life safety work by amendment number.

5)         For applicants that are seeking more than one grant in a fiscal year, the order in which the applicant wants its projects funded.

6)         Such assurances as the State Superintendent may require, to include at least the following:

A)        that the local board of education, in the case of school districts, or other school governing authority authorized the school maintenance project during a duly convened meeting, and

B)        that the local board of education, in the case of school districts, or other school governing authority reserved local funds in an amount equal to the school maintenance project grant requested to meet the local match requirement.

c)         Submission of the electronic application shall be evidence of authorization by the school board or other governing board.

d)         An applicant submitting an incomplete application shall be contacted by staff of the State Board regarding the need for additional information.  An application must be complete by the applicable submission deadline in order to be considered.  All information contained in the application shall be subject to verification and correction by the State Superintendent by such means as on-site inspection and review of documents.

e)         An application for a grant for an emergency project shall be submitted electronically directly to the State Superintendent by the deadline stipulated on the application.  A copy shall also be submitted to the regional superintendent of education. 

f)         Up to $1 million shall be reserved each fiscal year for emergency projects.  If funds, other than funds reserved for emergency projects, remain after the award of grants from the announced application cycle, then a second application period will be held.  If funds reserved for emergency grants remain at the end of the fiscal year, then these funds shall be distributed for other approved projects from the latest application cycle.

(Source:  Amended at 34 Ill. Reg. 3000, effective February 18, 2010)