New London - The city's legislative delegation and city officials are working on parallel tracks to lobby state administrators and legislators to support funding the city's magnet school construction project in the next legislative session.

The $168 million project, which will complete the facilities portion of the city's plan to become the state's first all-magnet school district, will not be among the school building projects recommended by the state Department of Administrative Services to the General Assembly for funding when its next session begins.

The General Assembly can add a project not recommended by DAS to its annual school construction legislation, but no money can be expended on a project until it is included in such a bill.

On Wednesday, state Rep. Ernest Hewett, D-New London, Rep.-elect Aundre Bumgardner, R-Groton, state Sen.-elect Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, and New London City Councilor Michael Passero met in Hartford with the head of DAS to discuss the best approach to ensure the project is funded as soon as possible.

"They impressed on us the need for this facility and the benefits for the region that will flow from this project. We were able to develop a framework for legislation that should address the issues that we discussed in the meeting," DAS Commissioner Donald DeFronzo said in a statement issued by Hewett's office. "We look forward to continuing to work with the delegation to implement the necessary provisions in order to allow the project to go forward."

In the statement, Hewett said he is positive the project will eventually be added to the annual funding legislation.

"I am encouraged and confident that our delegation will work together in presenting a legislative provision that the General Assembly will be able to support in order to make this project a reality," he said.

Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio is also working to make sure the project is funded in the next legislative session.

On Tuesday, Finizio went to Hartford to seek the support of incoming Senate President Pro Tempore Martin Looney, D-New Haven. The mayor has previously met with Speaker of the House Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, to discuss the construction project.

"I am working directly with them to ensure that the magnet school pathway project is included on the legislative priority list this session," Finizio said Thursday. "The speaker and Senate president both expressed support to me for the project, and we all agreed to continue discussing the matter as the legislative session moves forward."

In a statement issued by Finizio's office, Looney and Sharkey each reiterated their support for funding the magnet plan.

"Mayor Finizio makes a good case for this project, and I appreciate his desire to improve the learning environment for New London students, so I will do what I can to see that his request is realized," Sharkey said.

Finizio said he is also working with the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments and is hopeful that SCCOG's legislative committee will pass a resolution formally supporting the project.

By Dec. 15, DAS will submit to the General Assembly a list of school construction projects recommended for inclusion in the legislature's annual funding bill. To be included on that list, DAS spokesman Jeffrey Beckham said, a municipality must have approved the project by June 30.

The New London "project will not be on the priority list we send to the General Assembly," Beckham has said. "Under the law we have to follow in coming up with our list, we cannot include this project."

Even though the City Council approved the project and the associated $168 million bonding ordinance before that date, it was petitioned to referendum, and the state considered local approval to be incomplete until the referendum question passed on Nov. 4.

On Election Day, voters overwhelmingly affirmed the City Council's approval of up to $168 million in bonding to complete the facilities portion of the transformation into the state's first all-magnet school district.

The bond ordinance passed with roughly 65 percent support, allowing the city to set in motion its plan to renovate New London High School and Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, and construct a building to house a science, technology, engineering and math middle school at the high school campus.

The referendum had no effect on the state's pledge to reimburse the city for 80 percent of the total project cost, Beckham said. The city ultimately will be responsible to pay about $31 million of the total cost.

c.young@theday.com

Twitter: @ColinAYoung