1. (a) The commissioner of the department or the commissioner’s designee may grant waivers for the standards required in Ed 321.09, Ed 321.10, Ed 321.17(n), Ed 321.18(a)(8), and Ed 321.27(b).
2. (b) All waiver requests shall be submitted in writing and signed by the superintendent or charter school director.

3. (c) All waiver requests shall include in the following:

   1. (1) A reference to the specific section of Ed 321 for which a waiver is requested;
   2. (2) A detailed explanation of the standard to be waived and the degree to which the standard will be met if the request for waiver is approved;
   3. (3) A detailed explanation of the conditions that prevent compliance with the standards of Ed 321, or an explanation of how the waiver is in the best interest of education or is the most effective use of resources;
   4. (4) An explanation of the school district's or charter school’s attempts to achieve compliance with the standard;
   5. (5) An explanation of the impact of a denial of the request for a waiver; and
   6. (6) Other information to support the request that the school district or charter school would like to have considered.

4. (d) Waiver requests for Ed 321.09 shall be submitted at least 90 days prior to submitting the building aid application and shall also include the following information:

   1. (1) A table of each room, room number or name, the square footage of each individual space, and the number of students anticipated to be educated in that space;
   2. (2) An explanation of how that space meets the minimum requirements and what regulation requires the program to be provided;
   3. (3) An explanation of what utilization-maximizing strategies were considered such as multi-grade education and multiple uses of spaces, and why these strategies were not adequate to reduce the total gross square footage of the building; and
   4. (4) Other relevant information the department can use to analyze the proposed spaces and uses.
5. (e) The commissioner or the commissioner’s designee shall request additional information as necessary for a decision on the request for a waiver.
6. (f) A written decision shall be provided to the school district or charter school by the department within 60 days of receipt of the request for a waiver or following receipt of any additional information requested by the department.
7. (g) A waiver shall be approved if, in the determination of the commissioner of the department or the commissioner’s designee, approval of the request for a waiver shall not compromise the quality of education required in Ed 306 and is the best use of available resources.
8. (h) Any part of construction work that is dependent upon or otherwise affected by the results of the request for waiver shall not proceed until a decision on the request has been received from the department.

Source. #14023, eff 7-12-24; ss by #14215, eff 3-14-25