Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §15905, sub-§5, as enacted by PL 1993, c. 410, Pt. ZZZ, §1, is amended to read:

5. Approval criteria. In approving school construction projects, the state board shall ensure that school administrative units have made efficient use of existing school facilities within the unit and have explored and when feasible developed agreements for sharing facilities with neighboring school administrative units may not assign any additional weighting in the school construction project rating process to a school administrative unit that plans to consolidate 2 or more existing schools into one new school building.

SUMMARY

This bill removes the favorable weighting provided to school consolidation projects in the school construction project rating process. Under this bill, the State Board of Education may not assign any additional points to a school construction project that proposes to consolidate 2 or more existing schools into one new school building.