Funding allocated for new elementary facility
Robbinsville – It was more of a formality, but Graham County Schools was presented with a $42 million check Friday, which will go toward the much-needed construction of a new Robbinsville Elementary School.
District 120 Rep. Karl Gillespie (R-Franklin) personally delivered the check to Graham County Schools Superintendent Robert Moody. Also on-hand were school board chairman Rodney Nelson; vice chairman Chip Carringer; assistant superintendent David Matheson; county commissioner Connie Orr; and county commission chairman Jacob Nelms. All have played a vital role in the planning of the new school.
The presentation came on the heels of a press release from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, which provided more details about the funding and a description of the school itself. According to the release, seven school districts were awarded a total of $360 million in lottery-funded grants, under the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund – which was launched in 2017 by the General Assembly.
Other systems afforded the funds were Edgecombe ($62 million); Hyde ($36,574,482); Jackson ($52 million); Martin ($62 million); Sampson ($62 million); and Swain ($52 million) counties.
“Hurricane Helene has reiterated the necessity of our students having access to safe, modern and structurally sound learning environments,” said state superintendent Catherine Truitt. “Each year, this funding does so much to support districts in modernizing infrastructure to improve safety and to enhance access for students to specialized learning facilities where they gain hands-on experience in new facilities like STEM labs, media centers and in career and technical education fields.
“I’m so thrilled to see these grants get into the hands of some incredibly deserving districts as we seek to help every student in the state reach their full potential.”
“More than half of the $1 billion raised by the lottery last year went to build new schools and renovate and repair older ones,” added Chief Executive Officer of the N.C. Education Lottery Mark Michalko. “You can see ground-breaking and ribbon-cuttings events for new schools occurring all across our state. It’s a wonderful use of lottery funds and these new schools and classrooms will help move our students forward.”
The department of public instruction received 122 applications totaling $1.78 billion in requested funding.