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the same percentage of requested funding.
(i) Distribution of funds. Funds will be allocated
through the FSP and will appear on the school district or open-enrollment
charter school payment ledger and be delivered as soon as is practicable
after award amounts have been determined.
(j) Finalization of award. When the school district
or open-enrollment charter school determines that all insurance proceeds,
federal disaster relief payments, or other similar sources of reimbursement
that the school district or open-enrollment charter school anticipates
receiving are finalized and there are no pending claims, the school
district or open-enrollment charter school board and superintendent
or chief executive officer shall certify to TEA in writing that the
annual report required by subsection (f) of this section is no longer
necessary and disaster reporting is finalized.
(k) Record retention and audit. The school district
or open-enrollment charter school shall maintain all documents necessary
to substantiate payment and certifications made in subsections (c)(2),
(d), (g), and (h) of this section, and the school district or open-enrollment
charter school is subject to audit by TEA until two years after the
school district or open-enrollment charter school certifies to TEA
in writing that the disaster is finalized and closed in accordance
with subsection (j) of this section.
(l) Replacement of school facilities damaged in the
disaster. In accordance with TEC, §48.261, a school district
or an open-enrollment charter school is permitted to elect to replace
a facility damaged in a disaster instead of repairing that facility,
provided that the state funds provided under this section do not exceed
the lesser of the amount that would be provided to the district or
charter school if the facility were repaired or the amount necessary
to replace the facility.
(1) Construction plans and budgeted costs to rebuild
the facility must be reasonable and appropriate, as follows.
(A) Construction plans should follow current TEA facility
guidelines and physical plant requirements as prescribed in applicable
provisions of Chapter 61, Subchapter CC, of this title (relating to
Commissioner's Rules Concerning School Facilities) without significant
add-ons or upgrades, noting that:
(i) pre-disaster square footage in temporary buildings
may be replaced with square footage in permanent buildings;
(ii) pre-disaster square footage amounts may be adjusted
to account for additional square footage specifically required by
TEA guidelines, if applicable; and
(iii) except where specifically identified, the provisions
of Chapter 61, Subchapter CC, of this title do not apply to open-enrollment
charter schools.
(B) Budgeted cost per square foot may not be significantly
higher than recent comparable construction costs within the region
where the facility will be constructed.
(C) Enrollment capacity of the facility may not vary
significantly from current common practice for new facilities of a
like purpose.
(D) The facility's square footage per unit of enrollment
capacity may not significantly exceed current best practice guidelines
for new facilities of like purpose.
(E) The requesting school district or open-enrollment
charter school is responsible for demonstrating that construction
plans and budgeted costs conform to the requirements in this paragraph.
(2) The cost to replace a facility shall be based on
the average of the following two methodologies:
(A) replacement cost based on square footage, which
is an amount equal to the product of the reasonable and appropriate
budgeted costs and the quotient of the square footage of the pre-disaster
facility and the square footage of the planned facility, where the
replacement cost may not exceed the budgeted cost; and
(B) replacement cost based on enrollment capacity,
which is an amount equal to the product of the reasonable and appropriate
budgeted costs and the quotient of the pre-disaster facility enrollment
capacity and the planned facility enrollment capacity, where the replacement
cost may not exceed the budgeted cost.
(3) The commissioner may grant a waiver of one or more
of the requirements in paragraph (1) of this subsection if the school
district or open-enrollment charter school provides sufficient justification
why the requirement should not apply in a particular instance.
(4) The school district or open-enrollment charter
school may request an initial reimbursement based on anticipated insurance
proceeds, federal disaster relief payments, or other similar sources
of reimbursements. When this occurs, TEA will determine at a later
date the appropriate reimbursement when actual insurance proceeds,
federal disaster relief payments, or other similar sources of reimbursements
are known.
(m) Applicability. Notwithstanding subsection (n) of
this section, this section applies to disasters that occur on or after
September 1, 2019. Reimbursement requests for disaster remediation
costs for disasters that occurred prior to September 1, 2019, are
governed by §61.1013 of this title (relating to Foundation School
Program Funding for Reimbursement of Disaster Remediation Costs) and §61.1014
of this title (relating to Credit Against Recapture for Reimbursement
of Disaster Remediation Costs).
(n) Provisions related to Winter Storm Uri. This subsection
implements TEC, §48.2611 (One-Time Reimbursement for Winter Storm
Uri). TEA shall provide reimbursement to school districts for costs
incurred as a result of the 2021 North American winter storm (Winter
Storm Uri), including any resulting electricity price increases, using
the process outlined in subsections (a)-(l) of this section. This
subsection expires September 1, 2023.
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