Groton — The commissioner of the State Department of Administrative Services said Friday she could not include Groton’s $141 million request for new schools in the school construction package, nor recommend it, because her office does not have an application for the project.

Groton had planned to seek state reimbursement to cover 72 percent of the total cost of $195.6 million to build one new middle school and two new elementary schools.

The town hoped the request would be part of a larger package of municipal requests for bonding.

But Commissioner Melody A. Currey said the district did not follow the steps needed to submit the project.

“From my perspective, I have no paperwork to say, ‘Yes this is a project that was out there.’ All we did was listen to a presentation,” she said.

Groton would have needed to submit its application by last June and obtained local approval by last December to be on the list for this legislative session.

To make it on to next year's bond package, the town would have to submit its application by this coming June 30, hold the referendum in November and obtain voter approval.

“I think that they didn’t understand that they needed to follow the process here and get to that point. I think it was a misunderstanding on their part,” Currey said. 

She said of Groton, "At this point, they need to get their application in, they need to hold their referendum" and then make their case to legislators for more state reimbursement if that's needed afterward.

Superintendent Michael Graner acknowledged Friday that the typical procedure is to submit an application after referendum.

The town realized it would need special legislation to obtain approval before a referendum, but it didn't materialize, Graner said.

It would have required political support from ranking members of the House and Senate education committees but, in the current fiscal environment, that wasn't possible, he said.

"Now the question for the Town Council and the Board of Education is, can we submit an application prior to June 30, which we believe we can, hold the referendum in November, and, as Commissioner Currey indicated, seek any sort of special legislation we may need following the referendum," Graner said.

Town and school officials are discussing their options. 

"We always knew there was a procedure, but we were led to believe that an exception could be made because of our unique situation," state Rep. John Scott, R-Groton, said.

"And that unique situation is quite valid," he said. "It changes from year to year, and we've been in trouble and out of trouble" with the state due to racial imbalance. 

Scott said he and school officials met with representatives of administrative services, who ultimately opted to follow procedure. 

“That is a bummer,” said Jon Heller, chairman of the Groton School Facilities Initiative Task Force. “Wow, that’s unfortunate.”

The Town Council voted in March to send the school construction project to referendum in November.

But their support was contingent on the state approving the $141 million request.

If the request had received legislative approval, the school construction plan would have cost local taxpayers $55 million.

Without the funding, the plan would cost Groton taxpayers about $103.7 million, based on a reimbursement rate of 47 percent.

But Groton could receive more from the state if the district is found to be out of racial balance in October. A community can qualify for 80 percent reimbursement if the district is out of balance in the same year it applies for state funding.

"We may actually be entitled to a number greater than we were asking for in this special exception," Scott said. "So this could actually work to our benefit."

Groton has repeatedly struggled with racial balance.

The state cited the district in 2014 for an imbalance at Claude Chester Elementary School, which had a minority population of 68.2 percent at the time.

To correct it, Graner presented a plan to the State Board of Education in Janurary 2015 to build one new middle school and convert its two middle schools into elementary schools. The state board accepted it.

Groton believed it would get 80 percent back for at least one school, Graner said.

Then last spring, Graner was told that by a few students — two or three — the school was back in compliance.

The state considers a school out of balance if the percentage of minority students deviates by 25 percentage points from the district average.

Claude Chester had a minority population of 25.1 percent above the district average when it was cited. Last spring, that percentage dropped to 24.8 percent — just below the threshold.

Graner said Groton should proceed with the referendum and argue for 80 percent state funding based on this ongoing issue.

If the legislature disagrees and doesn't come through, the town could opt not to go forward, he said.

"We are going to make the argument that we should get the reimbursement because we made the plan in good faith when we were out of racial balance," Graner said.

Heller said it almost seems as if Groton is being penalized for trying to keep its district in balance.

“This has just been plaguing us for decades,” Heller said. “And we’ve redistricted and redistricted. We’ve met the state mandates on the backs of our families.”

Less than a year before the district was cited for the imbalance at Claude Chester, Groton moved 16 percent of its elementary school students to deal with a racial imbalance at another school, Catherine Kolnaski Magnet School.

Groton also is dealing with schools that were built decades ago, need work on roofs or heating and ventilation systems, and don’t meet fire codes or requirements in the Americans with Disabilities Act.

d.straszheim@theday.com