SARASOTA – The Sarasota County School District has been approved to receive more than $43 million from a federal bond program that will fund nearly three-quarters of the cost of rebuilding Booker High School with little or no interest cost to the district. The $43 million bonding authority represents the largest single allocation to a Florida school district in 2010 under the $115 million Florida Department of Education program.
The Qualified School Construction Bond program is part of the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Subject to approval by the School Board of Sarasota County, the QSCB funding will provide an interest rebate on about 74 percent of the $58 million budgeted for the rebuild of BHS.
The QSCB program was intended to help school districts finance qualified school construction projects in areas with specific needs. The age of the existing school buildings, safety and security issues and the demographics of the communities in which the projects are being built all were important considerations in the selection of qualified projects. BHS is a high-priority project because it includes re-routing Orange Avenue so students will no longer have to cross a street to move between classes.
“This is great news for the school district and for the citizens of our community,” said Shirley Brown, chairwoman of the School Board of Sarasota County. “By taking advantage of the district's bonding ability due to our excellent credit rating, we now have an opportunity to help jump-start our local economy at a time when it not only was most needed for our community, but also most advantageous to the district. It will mean jobs for hundreds of workers as we take advantage of current low interest rates and low construction costs.
“It’s truly a win-win-win scenario. The district gets Booker High built at a lower cost, the dollars help our local economy and our students will have updated facilities in which to learn the skills they will need to compete in our new global, technology-based economy.”
The Booker High rebuild and other school construction projects under way, including rebuilds of Venice High School and the Sarasota County Technical Institute, come at a time in which the district’s annual capital projects revenue available through property and sales taxes has dropped from $162 million to $81 million since the 2007-2008 budget year.
To keep the new school projects on track and to take advantage of low construction costs, the district has borrowed against future capital revenues.The QSCB authorization will enable the district to save several million dollars in interest costs.
The Booker High rebuild project will begin in August with the realignment of Orange Avenue. Building construction is scheduled to begin in early 2011 and to be completed in 2013.