(a)(1) Any incorporated or endowed high school or academy approved by the State Board of Education, pursuant to § 10-34, may apply and be eligible to subsequently be considered for a school building project grant commitment from the state, provided the school building project complies with the provisions of this chapter.

(2) Applications pursuant to this subsection shall be filed at such time and on such forms as the Department of Administrative Services prescribes. The Commissioners of Education and Administrative Services shall approve such applications pursuant to the provisions of § 10-284.

(3) In the case of a school building project, as defined in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (3) of § 10-282, the amount of the grant approved by the Commissioner of Administrative Services shall be computed pursuant to the provisions of § 10-286, and the eligible percentage shall be computed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. The calculation of the grant pursuant to this section shall be made in accordance with the state standard space specifications in effect at the time of final grant calculation.

(b) The percentage of school building project grant money each incorporated or endowed high school or academy may be eligible to receive under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section shall be determined by its ranking. The ranking shall be determined by (1) multiplying the total population, as defined in § 10-261, of each town which at the time of application for such school construction grant commitment has designated such school as the high school for such town for a period of not less than five years from the date of such application, by such town’s percentile ranking, as determined in subsection (a) of § 10-285a, (2) adding together the figures for each town determined under subdivision (1) of this subsection, and (3) dividing the total computed under subdivision (2) of this subsection by the total population of all towns which designate the school as their high school under subdivision (1) of this subsection. The ranking determined pursuant to this subsection shall be rounded to the next higher whole number. Such high school or academy shall receive the reimbursement percentage of a town with the same rank increased by five per cent, except that the reimbursement percentage of such high school or academy shall not exceed eighty-five per cent.

(c) In order for an incorporated or endowed high school or academy to be eligible for a grant commitment pursuant to this section such high school or academy shall (1) provide educational services to the town or towns designating it as the high school for such town or towns for a period of not less than ten years after completion of grant payments under this section, and (2) provide that at least half of the governing board which exercises final educational, financial and legal responsibility for the high school or academy, exclusive of the chairman of such board, be representatives of the board or boards of education designating the high school or academy as the high school for each such board’s town.