CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The state School Building Authority has for the first time ever awarded state funds for public charter school construction projects.
The SBA met Tuesday in Charleston.
The legislature created the path for funding a few years ago and $5 million was set aside for the projects. SBA Executive Director Andy Neptune said there were a few delays but ultimately a legal opinion from the office of state Attorney General J.B. McCuskey opened the door to fund the projects.
“We thank them. They sent us a letter that gave us a little more guidance and we felt that once we received that we were okay to move forward with the charter school requests,” Neptune told MetroNews Tuesday.
More see Public Charter School awards here
The authority approved funding of $1.8 million for the Eastern Panhandle Prep Academy in Jefferson County for a facility upgrade; $1.1 million for the Wisdom Academy in Morgantown for the purchase of a new facility near an existing school; $960,000 to help the Morgantown-based West Virginia Academy purchase a new school; $862,000 to the Clarksburg Classical Academy for facility upgrades; and $227,000 to the Kanawha County-based Mary Phalen Leadership Academy for renovations and campus safety enhancements at its Marmet location.
The SBA also Tuesday approved more than $5.3 million for Major Improvement Project (MIP) awards in eight county school districts.
The money is going to Mineral, Mingo, Randolph, Hancock, McDowell, Pendleton, Pocahontas and Hardy counties.
Neptune said the MIP awards address needs that are expensive for county school districts.
“We try to look at as many different projects as we can to try and help in different areas,” Neptune said.
The SBA awarded $2.9 million in funding to three multi-county technical education centers and statewide schools. The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind received $1 million for a construction project.
The SBA will hear from county school superintendents in November when NEEDS projects will be presented. Neptune said the SBA will have $61 million to hand out this year instead of the normal $51 million.
“For the first time ever the SBA was allotted an additional $10 million (by the legislature). That wasn’t a one time appropriation that was signed into the budget,” Neptune said.
The SBA will select its NEEDS projects funding awards in December.