(105 ILCS 230/5-100)

Sec. 5-100. School maintenance project grants.

(a) The State Board of Education is authorized to make grants to school districts and special education cooperatives established by school districts, without regard to enrollment, for school maintenance projects. These grants shall be paid out of moneys appropriated for that purpose from the School Infrastructure Fund. No grant under this Section for one fiscal year shall exceed $50,000, but a school district or special education cooperative may receive grants for more than one project during one fiscal year. A school district or special education cooperative must provide local matching funds in an amount equal to the amount of the grant under this Section. A school district or special education cooperative has no entitlement to a grant under this Section.

(b) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules to implement this Section. These rules need not be the same as the rules for school construction project grants or debt service grants.

The rules may specify: (1) the manner of applying for grants; (2) project eligibility requirements; (3) restrictions on the use of grant moneys; (4) the manner in which school districts and special education cooperatives must account for the use of grant moneys; and (5) any other provision that the State Board determines to be necessary or useful for the administration of this Section.

The rules shall specify the methods and standards to be used by the State Board to prioritize applications. School maintenance projects shall be prioritized in the following order:

(i) emergency projects;

(ii) health/life safety projects;

(iii) State Program priority projects;

(iv) permanent improvement projects; and

(v) other projects.

(c) In each school year in which school maintenance project grants are awarded, 20% of the total amount awarded shall be awarded to a school district with a population of more than 500,000, provided that the school district complies with the requirements of this Section and the rules adopted under this Section.

(Source: P.A. 98-710, eff. 7-16-14.)