Education

Six NC counties awarded $73M in grants to build new schools

North Carolina Superintendent Mark Johnson announced Wednesday that $73 million in grant funds from the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund will be awarded this year to school districts in Camden, Graham, Hertford, Northampton, Rutherford and Wilson counties. The grant awards will allow for construction of new school buildings in these economically distressed areas.

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RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Superintendent Mark Johnson announced Wednesday that $73 million in grant funds from the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund will be awarded this year to school districts in Camden, Graham, Hertford, Northampton, Rutherford and Wilson counties. The grant awards will allow for construction of new school buildings in these economically distressed areas.

“This is the third year these funds have been made available to benefit our students and educators who have had to deal with outdated facilities,” Johnson said in a statement. “These grants will help address our state’s need to replace old, outdated schools with better learning environments. “

Over the past three years, the Needs Based Public School Capital Fund has awarded a total of $242 million dollars to local school districts, resulting in 22 new schools or buildings and the replacement of 32 schools.

This year's awards include:

Camden County: $10 million to build a new Camden County High School that will also house Camden Early College High School ($33.3 million total project cost).
Graham County: $3.2 million to build an addition to Robbinsville Middle School to house 6th grade and other renovations to the existing middle/high school building space to accommodate the 6th grade addition ($4.2 million total project cost).
Hertford County: $15 million to build a new Ahoskie Elementary School. Features of the new school will include areas that have been designed for the community to utilize for after-hours activities and a drop loop that will utilize the cafeteria as its designated entrance to provide for the availability of morning breakfast for students ($20 million total project cost).
Northampton County: $15 million for a new centrally located Northampton High School adjacent to the county recreation department that would share field, gymnasium and parking with the county facility ($34.7 million total project cost).
Rutherford County: $15 million for a new Rutherford-Spindale Middle School to replace the current 94-year old school building. The new building will provide safety upgrades to implement needed security measures. ($35 million total project cost).
Wilson County: $15 million to expand the Wilson County Schools Early College of Applied Technology Academy, moving the Academy’s high school location from shared space in an existing high school to a new 75,000 square foot facility on the Wilson Community College Technology campus, located on land transferred to the school district. ($20 million total project cost).

The fund was created by the General Assembly to assist school districts in lower-wealth counties through revenue from the North Carolina Education Lottery. Awards are capped at $15 million per project in Tier 1 (most distressed) counties and $10 million per project in Tier 2 counties. The law requires a local match of $1 for every $3 in grant funds in Tier 1 and $1 for every $1 in Tier 2. The fund was created to assist lower-wealth counties with their critical public school building capital needs.

County applications were reviewed based on priorities provided in the law, including ability to generate revenue, high debt-to-tax revenue ratio, and the extent to which a project will address critical deficiencies in adequately serving the current and future student population.

An emphasis was placed on projects that were far enough along in the planning process that construction could begin within 12 months.

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