Section 43.130  Award of Early Childhood Construction Project Grants

a)         Not-for-profit Applicants/Applicants that are not School Districts with Populations Exceeding 500,000

1)         The Board is authorized to make grants to public school districts and not-for-profit entities for early childhood construction projects.  These grants shall be paid out of monies appropriated for that purpose.  The grants shall be for the purpose of:

A)        Constructing an addition onto an existing building;

B)        New construction of a facility or renovations to an existing facility in order to create a new early childhood center;

C)        Acquisition of facility;

D)        Purchase or replacement of equipment;

E)        Safety improvements; and

F)         Classroom conversions.

2)         An applicant that submits a complete and accurate application that is in compliance with this Section and that indicates that the applicant has a qualifying project shall be awarded a grant for the approved project, provided that the available State funding is sufficient to fund the grant.

3)         If the available State funding for any fiscal year is insufficient to fund all approved projects, grants shall be awarded in a priority order until the available State funding is exhausted.  Priority order permits the Board to give preference to projects located in communities in the State with the greatest underserved population of young children, utilizing Census data and other reliable local early childhood service data (Section 5-300(c) of the Act).

b)         Applicant School Districts with Populations Exceeding 500,000

A school district with a population exceeding 500,000 that submits a complete and accurate application in compliance with the Act and this Section shall be awarded a grant in the amount provided by the Act provided that State funding is sufficient to fund the grant.