581-027-0030 Technical Assistance Grant Program Procedures (1) The Department shall open the application period for the Technical Assistance Grant Program on January 15 of each year and close the application period on February 15 of the same year. If either of those dates falls on a weekend or holiday, the preceding Friday will be the effective date of the opening or closing respectively. (2) The Department shall establish a separate application for each type of grant available. (3) Each District and Education Service District must submit a separate application for each grant type for which it chooses to apply. (4) All Districts and Education Service Districts are eligible for each type of grant. (5) All applications are due by the date established by the Department. No late applications will be accepted. (6) The Department shall evaluate each completed application by awarding preference points as established by this rule. (7) An application will receive one (1) point for each preference that the application meets. (8) An application will receive a final score that is the total of the application’s points. (9) Applications will be funded from highest to lowest score. (10) If there is not enough funding to provide a Technical Assistance Grant to all applications that have equal scores, then the Department shall create a lottery to determine which applications will receive a Technical Assistance Grant. (11) By June 1 of each odd numbered year the Department’s Office of School Facilities shall publish inflation-adjusted Technical Assistance Grant amounts based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, West Region (All Items), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor. (12) The preference points for Districts applying for the Facility Assessment grant are: (a) District has twenty-five percent (25%) or more of its ADMr identified as Students in Poverty; (b) District has under 2,500 ADMr according to the annual reports for the same school year as used to calculate the Priority List under OAR 581-027-0010; (c) District has not conducted a Facility Assessment within ten (10) years or less; (d) District has not passed a general obligation bond within fifteen (15) years or less; (e) District’s ADMr has changed by ten percent (10%) or more over the last five (5) years based on the latest annual reports submitted to the Department; and (f) District has completed its annual electronic submission of its building and bond data to the Department by February 15 of each year. (13) The preference points for Education Service Districts applying for the Facility Assessment grant are: (a) The Education Service District has an average of twelve percent (12%) or more of its component school districts’ ADMr identified as Students in Poverty; (b) The Education Service District has under 20,000 Extended ADMw according to the annual reports for the same school year as used to calculate the State School Fund allocations; (c) The Education Service District has at least one building used for instruction with a student capacity of 10 or more; (d) The Education Service District has not conducted a Facility Assessment within ten (10) years or less; and (e) The Education Service District has completed its annual electronic submission of its building and bond data to the Department by February 15 of each year. (14) The preference points for Districts applying for the Long-Range Facility Plan grant are: (a) District has twenty-five percent (25%) or more of its ADMr identified as Students in Poverty; (b) District has under 2,500 ADMr according to the annual reports for the same school year as used to calculate the Priority List under OAR 581-027-0010; (c) District has not conducted a Long-Range Facility Plan within ten (10) years or less; (d) District has not passed a general obligation bond within fifteen (15) years or less; (e) District’s ADMr has changed by ten percent (10%) or more over the last five (5) years based on the latest annual reports submitted to the Department; and (f) District has completed its annual electronic submission of its building and bond data to the Department by February 15 of each year. (15) The preference points for Education Service Districts applying for the Long-Range Facility Plan grant are: (a) The Education Service District has an average of twelve percent (12%) or more of its component school districts’ ADMr identified as Students in Poverty; (b) The Education Service District has under 20,000 Extended ADMw according to the annual reports for the same school year as used to calculate the State School Fund allocations; (c) The Education Service District has at least one building used for instruction with a student capacity of 10 or more; (d) The Education Service District has not conducted a Long-Range Facility Plan within ten (10) years or less; and (e) The Education Service District has completed its annual electronic submission of its building and bond data to the Department by February 15 of each year. (16) The preference points for Districts applying for the Seismic Assessment grant are: (a) District has twenty-five percent (25%) or more of its ADMr identified as Students in Poverty; (b) District has under 2,500 ADMr according to the annual reports for the same school year as used to calculate the Priority List under OAR 581-027-0010; (c) District has not conducted an assessment for Business Oregon’s Seismic Rehabilitation Grant Program; (d) District identifies the schools it intends to assess and at least fifty percent (50%) are listed as “High” or “Very High” for collapse potential in the Rapid Visual Screening data created by the Department of Geology and Mineral Industries; (e) District’s Mapped Spectral Acceleration for a 1-second period (Ss) is greater than 0.6 as calculated by the United States Geological Survey; and (f) District has completed its annual electronic submission of its building and bond data to the Department by February 15 of each year. (17) The preference points for Education Service Districts applying for the Seismic Assessment grant are: (a) The Education Service District has an average of twelve percent (12%) or more of its component school districts’ ADMr identified as Students in Poverty; (b) The Education Service District has under 20,000 Extended ADMw according to the annual reports for the same school year as used to calculate the State School Fund allocations; (c) The Education Service District has at least one building used for instruction with a student capacity of 10 or more; (d) The Education Service District’s Mapped Spectral Acceleration for a 1-second period (Ss) is greater than 0.6 as calculated by the United States Geological Survey; and (e) The Education Service District has completed its annual electronic submission of its building and bond data to the Department by February 15 of each year. (18) The preference points for Districts applying for the Asbestos Environmental Hazard Assessment grant are: (a) District has twenty-five percent (25%) or more of its ADMr identified as Students in Poverty; (b) District has under 2,500 ADMr according to the annual reports for the same school year as used to calculate the Priority List under OAR 581-027-0010; (c) District has at least 50% or more of its schools built before 1980; (d) District needs to provide training to a staff person to oversee asbestos-related activities and/or needs to provide asbestos awareness training to custodial staff; (e) District is due to conduct its 3-year re-inspection of asbestos-containing material in each school facility; and (f) District has completed its annual electronic submission of its building and bond data to the Department by February 15 of each year. (19) The preference points for Education Service Districts applying for the Asbestos Environmental Hazard Assessment grant are: (a) The Education Service District has an average of twelve percent (12%) or more of its component school districts’ ADMr identified as Students in Poverty; (b) The Education Service District has under 20,000 Extended ADMw according to the annual reports for the same school year as used to calculate the State School Fund allocations; (c) The Education Service District needs to provide training to a staff person to oversee asbestos-related activities and/or needs to provide asbestos awareness training to custodial staff; (d) The Education District is due to conduct its 3-year re-inspection of asbestos-containing material in each facility; and (e) The Education Service District has completed its annual electronic submission of its building and bond data to the Department by February 15 of each year. (20) The preference points for Districts apply to the Radon Environmental Hazard Assessment grant are: (a) District has twenty-five percent (25%) or more of its ADMr identified as Students in Poverty; (b) District has under 2,500 ADMr according to the annual reports for the same school year as used to calculate the Priority List under OAR 581-027-0010; (c) District has school and administrative buildings that have not been tested for radon, or district has school and administrative buildings that had testing completed after July 1 of the preceding year; (d) District’s radon risk level is either “High” or “Not Assigned” according to information published by the Oregon Health Authority that provides for radon risk levels based on geography; (e) District has a school that qualifies as a remote small elementary school per ORS 327.077; and (f) District has completed its annual electronic submission of its building and bond data to the Department by February 15 of each year. (21) The preference points for Education Service Districts apply to the Radon Environmental Hazard Assessment grant are: (a) The Education Service District has an average of twelve percent (12%) or more of its component school districts’ ADMr identified as Students in Poverty; (b) The Education Service District has under 20,000 Extended ADMw according to the annual reports for the same school year as used to calculate the State School Fund allocations; (c) The Education Service District has instructional spaces or administrative buildings that have not been tested for radon in the last 10 years or more; (d) The Education Service District’s radon risk level is either “High” or “Not Assigned” according to information published by the Oregon Health Authority that provides for radon risk levels based on geography; and (e) The Education Service District has completed its annual electronic submission of its building and bond data to the Department by February 15 of each year. (22) A District or Education Service District that is awarded a Technical Assistance Grant must: (a) Enter into a grant agreement with the Department by the time specified by the Department; (b) Use a Certified Assessor to perform a Facility Assessment or Long-Range Facility Plan; (c) Provide the Department with an electronic copy of any final reports required by the Technical Assistance Grant; and (d) Provide the Department with an electronic copy of invoices showing expenses incurred in performing the work for the specific Technical Assistance Grant. (23) A District or Education Service District must reapply each time a new grant application is announced if it did not receive a grant in the previous grant application period. (24) A District or Education Service District may apply to the Technical Assistance Program to be reimbursed for assessments previously completed if: (a) The previous assessment work was started within six (6) months of the application period; (b) The previous assessments meet all requirements set forth for the type of assessment in these administrative rules; and (c) The Grantee submits a final copy of the report and all invoices within the required period for a Technical Assistance Program grant. (25) Grantees must submit all final reports and invoices by the date specified by the Department. If a Grantee does not meet that deadline, the Department may rescind their grant funds. (26) A District or Education Service District that receives a Technical Assistance Program grant will be ineligible to reapply for that specific grant for four (4) years from the year the grant was issued. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 326.125 & SB 285 (2023) Statutes/Other Implemented: SB 285 (2023) History: ODE 35-2025, amend filed 06/18/2025, effective 06/18/2025 ODE 2-2024, amend filed 02/16/2024, effective 02/16/2024 ODE 37-2021, amend filed 10/26/2021, effective 10/26/2021 ODE 42-2020, amend filed 10/22/2020, effective 10/22/2020 ODE 21-2019, amend filed 06/25/2019, effective 06/25/2019 ODE 32-2018, amend filed 10/19/2018, effective 10/21/2018 ODE 7-2017, f. & cert. ef. 6-1-17 ODE 4-2017, f. & cert. ef. 3-1-17 ODE 41-2016, f. & cert. ef. 7-20-16