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GATESVILLE – Gates County Schools has been awarded a Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund (NBPSCF) grant from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

The school district applied for four grants for a total of $16 million requested. The school district was awarded funding for one of the four grants submitted – Gatesville Elementary School Renovations Project for $1.78 million.

“While I am disappointed that we did not receive the full amount we applied for, I am pleased and appreciative of the funding we were awarded for needed improvements to Gatesville Elementary School,” stated Gates County Schools Superintendent Dr. Barry Williams. “We will remain vigilant in submitting grant applications to acquire the funding needed for improvements to T.S. Cooper Elementary, Buckland Elementary, and Gates County High School.

“The funds from the grant do not require a match from our county, which is a positive for our citizens. Some counties, if awarded one of these grants, must provide a 5 percent or 10 percent match, so we are fortunate in that aspect,” Dr. Williams added.

The grant awarded to Gates County Schools will provide needed updates and renovations to Gatesville Elementary School, which include:

Replacement of all single pane metal framed windows with energy efficient windows;

Replacement of existing double doors;

Replacement of the flat gravel roof area of the gym and the left side of the school;

Energy efficient HVAC upgrades;

Plumbing upgrades to replace the water main from PVC to copper; and

Site grading to include roof leaders, piping and drainage structures for improved drainage located at the rear of the left side building and throughout the playground area.

These areas were identified by Johnny Greene, Director of Maintenance, by utilizing the facility needs survey which is submitted to DPI and approved by the Board of Education every five years.

Greene and Dr. Williams will oversee the project.

“I am truly appreciative of the award made to Gates County Schools and am hopeful that we will see more awards such as this in the near future,” Dr. Williams concluded.

The grants were open to a majority of school districts throughout North Carolina. Priority for the grants were given to school districts who had previously been awarded NBPSCF funds and have not yet started construction of the project and want to increase their current grant award, to counties designated as Tier 1, and based upon a county’s ratio of debt to tax revenue, in addition to other stipulations. These prioritizations affected the amount of funds a school district received, along with the additional constraints of the total amount of funds available compared to the number of grant application submissions from school districts across the state.