With funds secured for a new Valley Middle School the Grand Forks School District will now turn its attention to replacing Twining on the Grand Forks Air Force Base.
The district is among ten nationwide invited to apply for some $650 million dollars under a Military Installations Grant program. There are 157 public schools on military installations – roughly half are considered to be in need of facility repairs.
Superintendent Terry Brenner says Twining is probably the second neediest building in the district – behind Valley. “The federal government is not interested in a band-aid approach.”
The grant program covers 80% of the construction. The early guess puts a new school at around $45 million dollars. Brenner says it will be important to work with local legislators during the interim to secure funding during the 2025 session. “There needs to be a 20% match. That local match is not going to come from the taxpayers in Grand Forks. We hope that will come from the state.”
The GFAFB School Board received an update on the grant program this week. Brenner says over the next 90 days they will begin to work on design and putting together a working committee to guide the process.
The latest enrollment report has 304 students at the Twining Elementary and Middle School.
Picture: GF School District
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
