COLUMBUS COUNTY, N.C. (WECT) – Columbus County Schools was awarded a $52 million grant for a new school, state superintendent of public instruction Catherine Truitt announced on Monday.
The funds come from a needs-based public school capital fund. The announcement, which came as a surprise to the school board, comes months after the county commissioners and school district applied for the funding.
“I came to Columbus County today bearing wonderful gifts and surprised everyone with a $52 million capital needs-based grant,” Truitt said.
Truitt says they received about $1 billion in submissions across more than 100 schools across the state.
The school will serve about 950 students. The application called for the consolidation of Acme Delco Elementary and Hallsboro Artesia Elementary, which Truitt says helped in the county’s application process.
“Being willing to consolidate two schools to become one is something that not all communities are willing to do,” Truitt said. “It’s efficient to do that because it means you’re going to be able to serve more students at one building instead of the two. That allowed me to prioritize Columbus County Schools’ application.”
This is a developing story, and more details will be added.
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