It didn’t take long for the Vance County Board of Commissioners to approve making a 5 percent match to Vance County Schools so that the school district can move forward with making application for more than $47 million in grant funding for capital improvements to school buildings.
It was the first item on the agenda for Monday’s special called meeting, and commissioners wasted no time in giving the school district the green light.
VCS Superintendent Dr. Cindy Bennett and Chief Finance Officer John Suther made the request at the commissioners’ September meeting, and told the board at the time that the grant application was due to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction by Oct. 3 – next Friday.
The state-administered grant is for capital improvements and Vance County could stand to get more than $47 million to make necessary repairs and renovations to up to 14 of its school campuses.
If the school district were to be approved to receive the maximum amount, the 5 percent match would amount to about $2.5 million.
The matching funds wouldn’t have to be paid all at once; rather, the money could come in over the course of the projects, which could take several years.
Bennett and Vance County Manager C. Renee Perry agree that Vance County is poised to receive the funding because of its Tier 1 designation and because it hasn’t applied previously to get the funding.
