Ill. State Board of Education awards $39.2 million in school maintenance grants | News

FRANKLIN COUNTY, IL (KFVS) - The Illinois State Board of Education announced it has awarded more than $39.2 million under the School Maintenance Grant Program to help 691 districts and vocational centers make necessary repairs and improvements on existing facilities.

Schools in the Franklin County School District include:

• Benton CCSD 47 - Total Project Cost: $170,780 Total Grant Amount: $50,000
• Benton Cons HSD 103 - Total Project Cost: $255,000 Total Grant Amount: $50,000
• Christopher USD 99 - Total Project Cost: $119,940 Total Grant Amount: $50,000
• Frankfort CUSD 168 - Total Project Cost: $120,000 Total Grant Amount: $50,000
• Sesser-Valier CUSD 196 - Total Project Cost: $103,200 Total Grant Amount: $50,000
• Thompsonville CUSD 174 - Total Project Cost: $350,000 Total Grant Amount: $50,000
• Zeigler-Royalton CUSD 188 - Total Project Cost: $97,742 Total Grant Amount: $48,871

The dollar-for-dollar program provides up to $50,000 in matching funds for the maintenance and upkeep of buildings or structures used for educational purposes.

“This grant program offers much needed support in this tough economy to make necessary improvements to our school campuses,” said State Board of Education Chairman Gery J. Chico. “We know that much more needs to be done but this helps districts get to projects that have long been on their to-do lists and might still be without these funds.”

The School Maintenance Grant Program, supported under the state’s School Construction Funds, can go toward an array of improvement activities, including re-sealing a parking lot, removing asbestos, replacing playground equipment, repairing bleachers and more. The grants, awarded for the first time since 2001, were distributed to districts through the summer and the start of this school year.

All school districts, cooperative high schools and Type 40 area vocational centers were eligible to apply for a grant.

Under law, the School Construction Funds was created as a special fund in the State Treasury, which receives bond proceeds from the state’s sale of General Obligation Bonds for the purpose of financing school maintenance and construction.

You can click here for the complete list of school districts in Illinois and how much they received.

Copyright 2012 KFVS. All rights reserved.