(a) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Department of Education may award, within available appropriations, a grant of up to five hundred thousand dollars to any town in which a newly established local charter school is located, to be paid to the fiscal authority for such local charter school not later than July fifteenth to assist with the start-up costs associated with the establishment of such local charter school pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, provided the local or regional board of education for such local charter school and the representatives of the exclusive bargaining unit for certified employees, chosen pursuant to § 10-153b, mutually agree on staffing flexibility in such local charter school, and such agreement is approved by the State Board of Education.

(b) In order to be eligible for a grant under this section, an applicant for a grant shall submit an application to the Commissioner of Education, pursuant to § 10-66bb, for the establishment of a local charter school to be established on or after July 1, 2012, and such application shall satisfy one of the following conditions: (1) Such applicant has high quality, feasible strategies or a record of success in serving students from among the following populations: (A) Students with histories of low academic performance, (B) students who receive free or reduced price school lunches, (C) students with histories of behavioral and social difficulties, (D) students eligible for special education services, (E) students who are English language learners, or (F) students of a single gender; or (2) such applicant has a high quality, feasible plan for turning around existing schools that have demonstrated consistently substandard student performance, or a record of success in turning around such schools. The department shall determine whether such applicant satisfies the provisions of subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection.

(c) Grant applications shall be submitted to the department at such time and in such manner as the department prescribes. Each applicant receiving a grant award under this section shall submit, at such time and in such form as the department prescribes, any reports and financial statements required by the department. If the department finds that any grant awarded pursuant to this section is being used for purposes that are not in conformity with the purposes of this section, the department may require the repayment of the grant to the state.

(d) Any unexpended funds appropriated to the Department of Education for purposes of this section shall be available for redistribution as a grant in the next fiscal year.

(e) The department may develop guidelines and grant criteria as it deems necessary to administer the grant program under this section.