Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Act No. 72                                                                             Page 1 of 2
2021
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. 72 (H.426). Education; property; school facilities; health and safety; capital
      improvements
        An act relating to addressing the needs and conditions of public school
        facilities in the State
           This act directs the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Executive
        Director of the Vermont Superintendents Association, the Chair of the State
        Board of Education, and the Commissioner of Buildings and General Services, to
        update the school construction facilities standards by January 15, 2023. This act
        also directs the State Board of Education to update and adopt a new rule on the
        Capital Outlay Financing Formula by January 15, 2023, and authorizes the
        Agency of Education to use $100,000.00 of the State’s Elementary and Secondary
        School Emergency Relief (ESSER) III funding to hire a consultant to provide
        technical assistance to the State Board to update the rule.
           This act also directs the Secretary of Education to hire a third-party consultant
        to conduct a school facilities inventory and conditions assessment to ascertain the
        extent of need for additional support to school districts as a result of COVID-19
        and to inform the Agency of Education of the statewide school facilities needs
        and costs. The act appropriates $2.5 million from the State’s ESSER III
        allocation for the inventory and assessment. The Secretary of Education is
        required to submit a report to the House and Senate Committees on Education by
        January 15, 2022, to present the findings of the inventory and a progress update
        on the assessment.
           This act directs the Secretary of Education to submit a report on school
        construction funding to the General Assembly by January 15, 2023.
           This act requires the superintendent for each school district or supervisory
        union to designate a person responsible for facilities management and requires
        that the designated person receive training and certification pursuant to guidelines
        established by the Secretary of Education.
          This act directs each school district to develop and maintain a five-year capital
        operations and improvement plan that is updated annually.
           This act creates one limited-service position in the Agency of Education
        through January 15, 2023, and appropriates $127,500.00 in fiscal year 2022 from
                                                                                   VT LEG #356905 v.2
Act No. 72                                                                    Page 2 of 2
2021
      the amount allocated to the Agency of Education Elementary and Secondary
      School Emergency Relief Fund for the position.
         This act amends the threshold requiring schools to go out to bid for school
      construction projects from $15,000.00 to $40,000.00.
          This act authorizes the Secretary of Education to hire a consultant until
      September 30, 2023, to assist schools in using ESSER III funds allocated to them
      to improve the overall health and safety of any district’s school facilities as a
      result of COVID-19 and authorizes the Agency of Education to allocate
      $500,000.00 of the State’s ESSER III funds to pay for the consultant. This act
      also authorizes the Agency to reserve $1,000,000.00 of the State’s ESSER III
      funds to pay for projects where a school district requires additional funding to
      implement improvements.
         This act directs the Agency of Education to coordinate with the Department of
      Buildings and General Services and report back to the House Committees on
      Corrections and Institutions and on Education and the Senate Committees on
      Education and on Institutions by January 15, 2023, on how to use the State
      Energy Management Program to support schools to implement energy efficiency
      and conservation needs identified in the inventory and assessment.
         This act establishes the Renewable and Efficiency Heating Systems Grant
      Program, administered by Efficiency Vermont, to award grants for renewable and
      efficient heating systems in schools.
          Finally, this act requires every public school and approved independent school
      to conduct a radon test by June 30, 2023, in any facility that has not had a test
      completed in five or more years, except that if a school is implementing an indoor
      air quality project, it has until June 30, 2024, to complete testing.
      Effective Date: June 8, 2021
                                                                          VT LEG #356905 v.2
Statutes affected: 
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Official: 16-559
As Passed by Both House and Senate -- Unofficial: 16-559
As Enacted: 16-559