Improvements to High School South’s corridor and vestibule ceilings and lighting are getting a helping hand from the state — to the tune of $190,224.
Officials announced on May 24 that the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) has authorized the grant for the improvement project, which should cost a total $475,560. The funding is part of a total $77.5 million Regular Operating District grant funding that will be used toward 142 projects at 111 schools in 59 districts throughout the state.
The news is not new to WW-P school officials, however, who already had known about the award and calculated the $190,000 into this year’s budget. The district applied for the money in January, 2009, said Larry Shanok, the superintendent of finance. But “it wasn’t until now that we got the official paper authorizing it.”
He said that when the SDA notified the district there would be an announcement this month, district officials originally hoped it might be news about the 44 applications they had submitted in a subsequent round in January, 2010. There has still been no announcement on that round of applications.
The SDA announced that the grants were made possible from the sale of $500 million in bonds by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA).
The grants represent at least 40 percent of eligible costs for projects in the RODs, addressing health-and-safety issues, student overcrowding, and other critical needs, a press release stated.
