Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 173 - Public School Building Projects
Section 10-282. - Definitions.

As used in this chapter, section 10-65 and section 10-76e:

(1) “Elementary school building” means any public school building designed to house any combination of grades below grade seven or children requiring special education who are described in subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 10-76d;
(2) “Secondary school building” means any public school building designed to house any combination of grades seven through twelve or any regional agricultural science and technology education center established under the provisions of part IV of chapter 164, and may also include any separate combination of grades five and six or grade six with grades seven and eight in a program approved by the State Board of Education when the use of special facilities generally associated with secondary schools is an essential part of the program for all grades included in such school;
(3) “School building project”, except as used in section 10-289, means (A) the construction, purchase, extension, replacement, renovation or major alteration of a building to be used for public school purposes, including the equipping and furnishing of any such construction, purchase, extension, replacement, renovation or major alteration, the improvement of land therefor, or the improvement of the site of an existing building for public school purposes, but shall not include the cost of a site, except as provided in subsection (b) of section 10-286d; (B) the construction and equipping and furnishing of any such construction of any building which the towns of Norwich, Winchester and Woodstock may provide by lease or otherwise for use by the Norwich Free Academy, Gilbert School and Woodstock Academy, respectively, in furnishing education for public school pupils under the provisions of section 10-34; and (C) the addition to, renovation of and equipping and furnishing of any such addition to or renovation of any building which may be leased, upon the approval of the Commissioner of Education or the Commissioner of Administrative Services, to any local or regional board of education for a term of twenty years or more for use by such local or regional board in furnishing education of public school pupils;
(4) “Extension” of an existing school building means the addition to an existing building or remaining portion of an existing building damaged by fire, flood or other natural catastrophe, or the erection of a new structure or group of structures on the same site which, together with the existing building, is designed to house pupils in an educational program under the supervision of one school principal;
(5) “Replacement” of a school building means the erection of a new structure on the same or another site to replace a school building totally destroyed by fire, flood or other natural catastrophe or one to be abandoned for school use upon completion of its replacement;
(6) “Major alteration” means a capital improvement of an existing building, the total project costs of which exceed ten thousand dollars except for projects approved pursuant to subsection (a) of section 10-65, for public school purposes resulting in improved educational conditions;
(7) “Code violation” means the correction of any condition in an existing building for public school purposes, the total project costs of which exceed ten thousand dollars, and which condition is in violation of the requirements of the State Building, Fire Safety or Public Health Codes, state or federal Occupational, Safety and Health Administration Codes, federal or state accessibility requirements or regulations of the federal Environmental Protection Agency or the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, state Department of Public Health regulations for radon or federal standards for lead contamination in school drinking water;
(8) “Completed school building project” means a school building project declared complete by the applicant board of education as of the date shown on the final application for grant payment purposes as submitted by said board to the Commissioner of Administrative Services or an agent of the commissioner;
(9) “Date of beginning of construction” means the date on which the general construction contract or the first phase thereof, purchase agreement or leasing agreement is signed by the authorized agent of the town or regional school district;
(10) “Standards” means architectural, engineering and education space specifications and standards for facility eligibility;
(11) “Application” or “grant application” means formal notification of intention to apply for a state grant-in-aid for a particular school building project;
(12) “Net eligible costs” means eligible project costs adjusted for the state standard education space specifications;
(13) “Regional educational service center” means a body corporate and politic established pursuant to the provisions of part IVa of chapter 164;
(14) “Regional educational service center administrative or service facility” means a building designed for administrative offices or residential facilities, operated by a regional educational service center;
(15) “Agricultural science and technology education” includes vocational aquaculture and marine-related employment;
(16) “Bonds or municipal bonds”, except as used in section 10-289, means (A) any bond, note, certificate or other evidence of indebtedness, and (B) any energy conservation lease purchase agreement;
(17) “Energy conservation lease purchase agreement” means any lease purchase agreement, installment sale agreement or other similar agreement providing for periodic payments by a town or regional school district which (A) has as its purpose the financing of a school building project concerning energy conservation, (B) separately states the principal and interest components of the periodic payments to be made under the agreement, and (C) provides that the town or regional school district acquire title to the school building project upon payment of the total amount outstanding under the agreement;
(18) “Renovation” means a school building project to refurbish an existing building that was not renovated in accordance with this subdivision during the twenty-year period ending on the date of application, and of which not less than seventy-five per cent of the facility to be renovated is at least twenty years old, and that results in at least fifty-five per cent of the square footage of the completed building project being so renovated and the entire completed project having a useful life comparable to that of a new construction, and for which the total project costs of the renovation are less than the total project costs of a new construction;
(19) “Certified school indoor air quality emergency” means the existence of a building condition determined by the Department of Public Health to present a substantial and imminent adverse health risk that requires remediation in an amount greater than one hundred thousand dollars;
(20) “Turn-key purchase” means the purchase of a facility that a party has agreed to construct or renovate and deliver as fully completed in accordance with an agreement between that party and a purchasing school district.
(November, 1949, 1953, S. 978d; 1957, P.A. 13, S. 65; 593, S. 1; 1959, P.A. 321, S. 1; February, 1965, P.A. 340, S. 2; 416, S. 1; 1967, P.A. 588, S. 1; 1969, P.A. 582, S. 1, 751, S. 7; P.A. 73-358, S. 1; P.A. 74-344, S. 1, 3; P.A. 76-418, S. 1, 18; P.A. 77-377; 77-614, S. 302, 610; P.A. 84-460, S. 5, 16; P.A. 85-599, S. 1, 6; P.A. 86-333, S. 14, 32; P.A. 87-499, S. 21, 34; P.A. 88-360, S. 28–30, 63; P.A. 89-387, S. 37, 41; P.A. 90-114, S. 2, 3; 90-256, S. 1, 9; P.A. 93-353, S. 6, 52; 93-378, S. 1, 4; 93-381, S. 9, 39; P.A. 95-257, S. 12, 21, 58; P.A. 96-270, S. 2, 11; P.A. 97-265, S. 75, 98; P.A. 99-239, S. 15, 32; P.A. 00-220, S. 20, 43; P.A. 01-173, S. 25, 67; P.A. 03-220, S. 3; P.A. 06-158, S. 4; P.A. 07-249, S. 2; P.A. 08-152, S. 12, 13; 08-170, S. 29, 30; P.A. 11-51, S. 115; 11-80, S. 1; P.A. 12-120, S. 15; P.A. 13-247, S. 200; P.A. 14-90, S. 5; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2, S. 67.)
History: 1959 act added regional vocational agriculture center to definition of secondary school building; 1965 acts defined “date of beginning of construction” and redefined “secondary school building” to include separate combinations of grades five and six or grades six, seven and eight; 1967 act redefined “elementary school building” as one which houses grades below the seventh rather than the ninth and defined “extension” and “major alteration”; 1969 acts redefined “school building project” to include specific mention of Norwich Free Academy, Gilbert School and Woodstock Academy, included “purchasing” and “improvement of an existing building for public school purposes” in definition of “school building project” and added reference to purchase agreements in definition of “date of beginning of construction”; P.A. 73-358 redefined “school building project” to include “replacement” of buildings and to specify improvements “of the site” of an existing building, redefined “extension” to include additions to remaining portions of buildings damaged by natural catastrophe, redefined “major alteration” to specify purposes “resulting in improved educational, safety or health conditions” and to raise cost from $2,500 to $5,000, redefined “date of beginning of construction” to include date the first phase of contract signed and defined “replacement”; P.A. 74-344 included leasing in definition of “school building project” and leasing agreements in definition of “date of beginning of construction”; P.A. 76-418 increased cost to $10,000 in definition of “major alteration” and defined “standards” and “application”; P.A. 77-377 included in “school building project” additions, renovations, etc. re buildings leased for at least 50 years; P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of education for secretary of the state board of education, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 84-460 inserted Subsec. indicators, amended definition of “major alteration” to except projects “approved pursuant to subsection (a) of section 10-65”, i.e. projects for vocational agriculture centers, added definitions for “code violation” and “net eligible costs”, and added reference to Secs. 10-65 and 10-76e; P.A. 85-599 added definitions of “regional educational service center” and “regional educational service center administrative or service facility”; P.A. 86-333 substituted 20 for 50 years in Subsec. (c)(3); P.A. 87-499 redefined “code violation” in Subsec. (g) to expand the number of codes and regulations applicable; P.A. 88-360 deleted “leasing” of a building in Subsec. (c)(1) and added Subsec. (c)(4) re the leasing of a facility by a regional educational service center, in Subsec. (h) substituted “applicant” for “state” board of education and “submitted by said board to” for “designated by” the commissioner of education and amended Subsec. (m) to provide that a regional educational service center means a body corporate and politic established pursuant to the provisions of part IVa of chapter 164; P.A. 89-387 added new Subsec. (o) defining term “vocational agriculture”; P.A. 90-114 in Subsec. (g) added violations of regulations re radon and standards for lead in drinking water to definition of “code violation”; P.A. 90-256 in Subsec. (a) redefined “elementary school building” to include public school buildings to house certain children requiring special education; P.A. 93-353 amended Subsec. (c) to specify that the equipping and furnishing be related to the construction, purchase, extension, replacement or major alteration of a building, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-378 added new Subsecs. (p) defining “bonds or municipal bonds” and (q) defining “energy conservation lease purchase agreement”, respectively, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-381 replaced department of health services with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 96-270 replaced lowercase alphabetic Subdiv. indicators and numeric Subpara. indicators in Subdiv. (3), with numeric and uppercase alphabetic indicators, respectively, added the definition of “renovation”, redefined “school building project” to include renovation and made technical changes, effective July 1, 1996 (Revisor's note: The numeric Subpara. indicators in Subdivs. (16) and (17) were changed editorially by the Revisors to uppercase alphabetic indicators for consistency with Subdiv. (3) and customary statutory usage); P.A. 97-265 redefined “school building project” to delete leases of facility by a regional educational service center, effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 99-239 redefined “school building project” to add the exception for site costs provided in Sec. 10-286d(b), effective June 28, 1999; P.A. 00-220 amended Subdiv. (18) to redefine “renovation”, effective July 1, 2000; P.A. 01-173 amended Subdiv. (3)(C) to require leasing approval by the Commissioner of Education rather than the State Board of Education, effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 03-220 added Subdiv. (19) defining “certified school indoor air quality emergency”, effective July 1, 2003; P.A. 06-158 added Subdiv. (20) defining “turn-key purchase”, effective July 1, 2006; P.A. 07-249 amended Subdiv. (18) defining “renovation” to designate existing provisions as Subpara. (A) and add Subparas. (B) and (C) restricting renovations to buildings not renovated during previous 20-year period and projects for which not less than 75% of facility is at least 30 years old, effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 08-152 and 08-170 amended Subdivs. (2) and (15) to change “vocational agriculture” to “agricultural science and technology education”, effective July 1, 2008; P.A. 11-51 amended Subdiv. (8) by replacing “Commissioner of Education” with “Commissioner of Construction Services” and making a technical change, effective July 1, 2011; pursuant to P.A. 11-80, “Department of Environmental Protection” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Department of Energy and Environmental Protection” in Subdiv. (7), effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 12-120 amended Subdiv. (18)(A) by replacing “department” with “Department of Construction Services”, effective June 15, 2012; pursuant to P.A. 13-247, “Commissioner of Construction Services” and “Department of Construction Services” were changed editorially by the Revisors to “Commissioner of Administrative Services” and “Department of Administrative Services”, respectively, in Subdivs. (8) and (18), effective July 1, 2013; P.A. 14-90 amended Subdiv. (3) to redefine “school building project” by adding “or the Commissioner of Administrative Services” in Subpara. (C), effective July 1, 2014; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2 amended Subdiv. (18) to redefine “renovation”, effective October 31, 2017.
A school building site is not within the definition of a “school building project” under section, and Sec. 10-291 is not applicable to its acquisition. 168 C. 135. Cited. 181 C. 544; 220 C. 556.

Structure Connecticut General Statutes