Wyo. Code R. 027-0002-10
Effective Date: 02/02/2022 to Current
Rule Type: Current Rules & Regulations
Reference Number: 027.0002.10.02022022
Section 1. Applicability. This Chapter applies to all district-initiated projects and elements at the time of the renovation, construction, replacement, repair, or other improvement of or to any school building or facility.
(a) State capital construction funds shall not be spent on district-initiated elements or projects. Costs associated with obtaining leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) design certification and commissioning the school building or facility in accordance with that certification shall be considered district-initiated elements.
(b) A district may opt, at any time, to implement a district-initiated project. A district-initiated project shall be considered a local enhancement to the extent that, when completed, the building or element exceeds the Commission's relevant adequacy standards, whether for a design feature(s) or additional square footage. Regardless of any present or future recognition of the district-initiated element or project as not exceeding the Commission's adequacy standards, neither the State, the Department, nor the Commission shall reimburse the district the cost of a district-initiated element or project.
(c) The Department shall maintain a record identifying all local enhancements.
(a) If a district intends to include a district-initiated element in the design of a state-initiated remedy, the district shall notify the Department prior to design. Preliminary information shall indicate the nature, scope, cost and schedule of the district-initiated element. The district bears the responsibility for consulting the Commission's adequacy standards and the Facility Design Standards and Guidelines and identifying elements that exceed those documents. The Department shall make reasonable efforts to help the district identify any design elements in excess of the relevant guidelines or standards through the value engineering process and the notice to proceed. Notwithstanding this requirement, the district is ultimately responsible for the identification of district-initiated elements, and a design element shall not be considered state-initiated merely because the district fails to identify it as district-initiated, regardless whether the Department has reviewed or approved the plans. The Commission shall consider any reasonable aesthetic design requests made by the district in accordance with Chapter 9, Section 12(h) of these Rules. The funding and construction of the district-initiated element shall proceed as follows:
(i) The Department shall determine the appropriate method of allocating costs between the district-initiated element and the legislatively-funded portion of the project.
(ii) The district shall bear all costs of the district-initiated element, including all design and other consultant costs and construction costs attributable to the element. In no event shall state funds be spent on purchasing, constructing, installing, or furnishing a district-initiated element.
(iii) If a district opts to go forward with a district-initiated element, it shall bid the element separately as an alternate, with the enhancements calculated as a percentage of the overall project cost, or a combination thereof. The allocation for costs associated with a local enhancement shall be identified and split on a percentage basis as follows:
(A) When the district-initiated element is the result of the inclusion of a design feature(s) which exceeds or fails to comply with the Facility Design Standards and Guidelines or is not in compliance with the recommendations of value engineering made subject to Chapter 9, Section 8, it shall be bid as a construction alternate. The construction alternate shall include all costs attributable to the district-initiated element plus all costs for modifications to the legislatively-funded portion of the project that are attributable to the district-initiated element.
(B) When the district-initiated element results in the inclusion of additional square footage of school building and facilities such that the school building or facility exceed the total square footage allowed by the Commission’s adequacy standards, the difference between the allowable square footage and the project total square footage shall be computed as a percentage. Project costs will be attributed on the basis of the percentage as identified, or as subsequently revised in the event of a change in the square footage. When changes affect the entire project and result in additional costs, the costs shall be shared based on this percentage.
(b) At the conclusion of a project that consists of or includes a district-initiated element(s), the Department shall evaluate the district-initiated element(s) with the Commission’s Adequacy Standards under Chapter 3 of these Rules. The Department shall identify any district-initiated element that exceeds the Adequacy Standards as a local enhancement, designate it as such, and exclude the identified local enhancement from its calculation of district square footage for the purpose of calculating major maintenance payments.
(c) A district-initiated element shall be considered to exceed the Commission’s adequacy standards unless the district petitions the Commission under Section 4 of this Chapter.
(d) The Department shall maintain a record of local enhancements made by school districts. These records shall include a list detailing the size and nature of building design features incorporated into capital construction projects as a result of past local enhancements. The list shall be reviewed by the Commission when acting in accordance with W.S. 21-15-115(c). The Department shall no less than once every four (4) years undertake efforts to ascertain whether national or regional research exists as to whether or not any of the enhancement categories identified in the list specified under this paragraph have a positive demonstrable effect upon delivery of education.
(e) If the Department’s research conducted pursuant to subsection (d) of this Section indicates that a category of enhancement may have a positive demonstrable effect upon delivery of education, the Department shall gather available evidence and present that evidence along with a recommendation to the Commission. The Department may consult with the Wyoming Department of Education, districts, and other stakeholders to consider whether any particular type of local enhancement has a positive demonstrable statewide effect upon delivery of the prescribed state educational program. Following presentation and analysis of available evidence provided to the Department, the Commission shall determine whether the identified local enhancements or category of local enhancements have a positive demonstrable statewide effect upon the delivery of the educational program. If the Commission determines that such a demonstrable effect exists, it shall make a determination whether and how such local enhancements should categorically be incorporated into the statewide adequacy standards.
(a) A space or facility deemed a local enhancement shall remain a local enhancement until such time the Commission acknowledges that the space or facility fits within the Commission’s adequacy standards, subject to the following provisions.
(i) During facility planning, the Department shall work with districts to determine whether any enhancement designations should be removed because:
(A) The identified local enhancement no longer exceeds the Commission’s adequacy standards;
(B) The district claims the local enhancement in question has a positive demonstrable effect upon delivery of the prescribed state educational program on a statewide basis and the district has evidence tending to show that that assertion is correct; or
(C) The Commission’s methodologies change or the district’s student population has grown to an extent such that enhanced square footage no longer exceeds the educational square footage allocated to the district under Chapter 3, Section 8 of these Rules.
(ii) At the completion of the facility planning process, the Department shall present to the Commission a list of local enhancements that should no longer be designated enhancements. If the Commission approves the list, the Department shall remove the enhancement designation from all included elements, square footage, or buildings, but maintain the record for historical reports to the Legislature.
(b) Any district claiming that a local enhancement has a positive demonstrable statewide effect upon delivery of the prescribed state educational program may petition the Commission for a review of the status of that type of local enhancement. The district shall provide evidence of that positive demonstrable effect to the Department in the form of statistical analysis that establishes a causative effect between the identified local enhancement and any purported positive demonstrable effect.
(c) Following presentation and analysis of the district's evidence under subsection (b) of this Section, the Commission shall determine whether the identified local enhancement has a positive demonstrable statewide effect upon the delivery of the educational program. If the Commission determines that such a demonstrable effect exists, it shall make a determination whether and how such local enhancements should categorically be incorporated into the statewide adequacy standards.
(d) In no event shall the State, the Department, or the Commission reimburse a district the cost of the element, square footage, building, or facility when the Commission removes the enhancement designation.