Act No. 149 Page 1 of 1
2024
This act summary is provided for the convenience of the public and members of the General Assembly. It
is intended to provide a general summary of the act and may not be exhaustive. It has been prepared by the
staff of the Office of Legislative Counsel without input from members of the General Assembly. It is not
intended to aid in the interpretation of legislation or to serve as a source of legislative intent.
Act No. 149 (H.871). An act relating to the development of an updated State aid to school
construction program
Subjects: Education; school construction; facilities; grant program
This act takes several steps towards updating the State’s school construction program,
including the following:
• Sec. 1 of this act creates the Facilities Master Plan Grant Program to support the
development of educational facilities master plans with the goal of supervisory
unions developing a final master plan that complies with State construction aid
requirements. The Agency of Education will administer the Grant Program as
well as develop a prioritization formula based on an applicant’s poverty factor and
average facilities condition index score, with award amounts commensurate with
gross square footage of buildings within the applicable supervisory union. The
Agency is also required to report to the General Assembly annually, on or before
December 31, with information on the implementation of the Grant Program. The
Grant Program will run for five years, with Sec. 2 of this act prospectively
repealing Sec. 1 on June 30, 2029.
• Sec. 3 of this act requires the Agency of Education to coordinate with the
Department of Buildings and General Services to develop prequalification criteria
for firms specializing in kindergarten-through-grade-12 school design and
construction.
• Sec. 4 of this act creates the State Aid for School Construction Working Group to
study and design a recommended plan for a statewide school construction aid
program. The Working Group is composed of three members of the House, three
members of the Senate, and the Secretary of Education or designee. Sec. 4
requires the Working Group to consider and make recommendations on certain
topics and consult with certain groups. The Working Group shall meet not more
than six times, unless additional meetings are jointly authorized by the Speaker of
the House and President Pro Tempore, and it shall cease to exist on December 31,
2024. Final findings and recommendations shall be submitted to the General
Assembly on or before December 15, 2024, in the form of proposed legislation.
• Sec. 6 amends 16 V.S.A. § 559 (b) to raise the threshold for what is considered a
“high-cost construction contract.” Current law requires that if a school
construction contract exceeds $500,000.00, a school board needs to publicly
advertise for bids. This section raises the threshold at which there would be a
need to advertise for bids to $2,000,000.00. This section also amends current law
to allow school boards to choose from among three or fewer lowest responsible
bids. Current law requires at least three bids. This change would allow a school
board to choose from fewer than three bids.
Effective Date: July 1, 2024
VT LEG #377551 v.2


Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 16-3441, 16-19
As Passed By the House -- Official: 16-3441, 16-19
As Passed By the House -- Unofficial: 16-3441
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Official: 16-3441, 16-19, 16-559
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Unofficial: 16-3441, 16-559
As Enacted: 16-3441, 16-559