1. (a) The department shall begin the evaluation of projects once all school building aid applications have been submitted and received.
2. (b) The department shall conduct a site visit to the project location to verify the information submitted in the application, subject to the availability of time and funds for making such visits.
3. (c) The department shall award points, up to the maximum, for each category listed in (f) below and addressed in the project application. Points shall not be awarded in categories that are not included in the project.
4. (d) The department shall evaluate the information provided by the applicant pursuant to Ed 321.15(d)-(i) to determine the awarding of points and ranking of projects.
5. (e) For each project application, the categories in (f) below shall be evaluated in comparison to the other submitted project applications.

6. (f) Projects shall be scored in the following categories:

   1. (1) Correcting unsafe conditions that are identified in the needs assessment submitted as part of the application per Ed 321.15(e), 200 points possible;
   2. (2) Correcting building or site deficiencies that involve construction or substantial site modifications and that are identified in the school security assessment submitted as part of the application per Ed 321.15(g), 100 points possible;
   3. (3) Updating obsolete, inefficient, and unsuitable mechanical, electrical, plumbing, or structural building systems, including correcting deficiencies with ADA, identified in the needs assessment submitted as part of the application per Ed 321.15(e), 100 points possible;
   4. (4) Updating obsolete, inefficient, and unsuitable educational spaces, identified in the educational specifications and needs assessment submitted as part of the application per Ed 321.15(d) and (e), 100 points possible;
   5. (5) Correcting overcrowding conditions and associated influences to instructional areas and programming, as identified in the needs assessment submitted as part of the application per Ed 321.15(e), 75 points possible;
   6. (6) Addressing enrollment projections and population shifts, as identified in the needs assessment submitted as part of the application per Ed 321.15(e), 50 points possible;
   7. (7) Contributing to operational cost efficiencies which reduce the school district’s or charter school’s budget such as consolidating buildings or reducing transportation costs, as identified in the feasibility study submitted as part of the application per Ed 321.15(f), 75 points possible;

   8. (8) The difference between 200 and the building aid factor, 200 point possible, determined as follows:

      1. a. For school districts, the building aid factor is calculated in accordance with RSA 198:15-v, I(c) and rounded to the nearest whole number; or
      2. b. For charter schools, the building aid factor is calculated in accordance with RSA 198:15-v, I(c), using the municipality in which the charter school is located, and rounded to the nearest whole number; and
   9. (9) The difference between the existing net EUI and the proposed net EUI, as identified in the application per Ed 321.15(i), 100 points possible.

7. (g) Projects shall be ranked in descending order with the project receiving the highest score ranked first, with the following exceptions:

   1. (1) An emergency project, defined by RSA 198:15-c, I(c), shall rank ahead of all the others, including those previously ranked;
   2. (2) Except as allowed by (1) above, an application that was on the prioritized list in the previous year and has provided the required items in Ed 321.17(i) shall be ranked ahead of any application that was not on the list in the previous year;
   3. (3) If 2 or more applications receive the same number of points, the tie scores shall be ranked according to the number of points scored in (f)(1) above, the unsafe conditions category;
   4. (4) If a tie score remains after ranking for unsafe conditions, the remaining tie scores shall be ranked according to the sum of the points scored in (f)(8) above; and
   5. (5) If a tie score remains after ranking for (4) above, the school building authority shall determine the ranking of those applications.
8. (h) Conditions that result from insufficient maintenance or neglect as described in Ed 321.32(f)(2) shall not be considered for points.
9. (i) By August 1, the department shall submit a prioritized list of applications to the school building authority, along with the scoring results of each criterion in (f) above, and the maximum award amount calculated in accordance with Ed 321.19.
10. (j) The school building authority shall verify the ranking submitted by the department.
11. (k) By October 15, the school building authority shall submit a list in descending rank order to the state board.
12. (l) If the school building authority determines that the department failed to comply with the requirements of Ed 321 or RSA 198:15-c in developing the prioritized list, the list shall be returned to the department for appropriate corrective actions.
13. (m) By November 15, the state board shall approve and publish the descending rank ordered list.
14. (n) Projects listed on the descending rank order list approved by the state board on November 10, 2022, shall be placed on the prioritized list in 2025 in the same rank order ahead of any new applications received, provided that the applicant submits the items in Ed 321.17(i) and Ed 321.35 by May 1, 2025.
15. (o) School districts or charter schools shall have 14 calendar days following the publication of the prioritized list of applications to file a motion for reconsideration of the prioritized list to the state board.
16. (p) The state board shall consider any motions for reconsideration of the prioritized list at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the state board.

Source. #8265, eff 1-22-05; ss by #10363, eff 6-15-13; ss by #13054, eff 6-12-20 (formerly Ed 321.17); ss by #14023, eff 7-12-24 (formerly Ed 321.21); ss by #14215, eff 3-14-25