TMCnet News
4 local districts get stimulus school bonds [The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.](Columbian (Vancouver, WA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sep. 27--Prairie High School will get a long-awaited sewer hookup and new athletic fields, thanks to nearly $4 million in interest-free school construction bonds obtained under a federal economic stimulus program. The Battle Ground school district will also use bond proceeds to upgrade video monitoring at 18 locations, improve several fire alarms and reconfigure a Prairie High parking lot for better safety. The Camas, Ridgefield and Washougal school systems will also receive federal bond support. In a spin-off of the American Recovery and Reinvestment act of 2009, Washington state was allocated $164 million in interest-free Qualified School Construction Bonds this year, out of $11 billion targeted nationally for schools in both 2009 and 2010. Bonds may be used to rehabilitate or repair school facilities, or to construct school buildings and acquire school land. Eligible investors who buy QSCBs receive federal income tax credits, rather than interest payments. That allows school districts to sell the bonds and pay back only the principal, in annual chunks or a lump-sum payment, within 15 years. Districts may also convert any unsold bonds that had been authorized by a voter-backed measure to the QSCBs, and thus stretch their buying power. The nonvoted bonds do not add to local taxpayers' burden. In Washington, school districts applied to state officials to earn support for desired projects. Rated on a first-come, first-serve priority basis, some applications were scaled down or denied. This month, leaders at 18 Washington districts received good news, including: -- Battle Ground will use a portion of its $3.99 million share to dispense with the Prairie High septic system, one of Clark County's five largest (permitted for as much as 7,320 gallons per day) and dating to the school's inception in 1978. That will allow construction of recreational facilities on the old drain field, including a new softball and soccer field. They should help ensure compliance with federal Title IX gender equity rules for athletics, the district said. The parking redesign at Prairie will separate school buses from auto and pedestrian traffic. (The campus also will soon have a new, north-side access to Northeast 119th Street, built in conjunction with the WinCo store now going up and the new sewer hook-up.) -- Camas will convert $15 million of unsold bonds left from a $90 million bond measure approved by voters in 2007. That should save $8-10 million in interest payments. The district will soon identify appropriate projects. -- Ridgefield will put $1 million into heating-ventilation and lighting improvements in all schools, said Superintendent Art Edgerly. -- Washougal will use $1 million for energy-saving retrofits at several schools. A replacement for the aging Washougal High gym floor also might be in the works, said Business Manager Roseann Lassman. Evergreen district leaders agreed Wednesday to submit a request for the next round of QSCBs, to be awarded in 2010. The district seeks up to $23.7 million to construct and furnish a new Health and BioScience Academy that had been included in a $249 million bond measure rejected by voters last March. There's a slim chance Evergreen could earn bond assistance more quickly, if any initial recipients are unable to sell their bonds by mid-January. Vancouver Public Schools has not yet chosen to participate in the bond program. Howard Buck: 360-735-4515 or [email protected]. To see more of The Columbian, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.columbian.com. Copyright (c) 2009, The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |