For the fiscal years ending June 30, 1999, June 30, 2000, and June 30, 2001, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Department of Education shall award, within available appropriations, competitive grants to the Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport school districts to assist in the development of curricula and the training of staff for lighthouse schools. Grants for such purpose shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars for any individual school in any year and may be renewed for two additional years in such lesser amounts as the department determines are reasonable for purposes of implementing the lighthouse school program at a school. For purposes of this section and section 10-285a, a “lighthouse school” is an existing public school or a public school planned prior to July 1, 1997, in a priority school district that (1) has a specialized curriculum, and (2) is designed to promote intradistrict and interdistrict public school choice.