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

WILLIAMSON 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 Williamson County School District include:

• Carterville CUSD 5 - Total Project Cost: $141,000 Total Grant Amount: $50,000
• Crab Orchard CUSD 3 - Total Project Cost: $342,835 Total Grant Amount: $50,000
• Johnston City CUSD 1 - Total Project Cost: $111,000 Total Grant Amount: $50,000
• Marion CUSD 2 - Total Project Cost: $101,365 Total Grant Amount: $50,000

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.

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