phitchins@vicksburgpost.com

School building additions at Vicksburg Junior High and Warrenton Elementary schools has moved a step closer to reality with state board of education approval of $3 million in interest-free construction bonds.

Vicksburg Warren School District Superintendent Dr. James Price said Friday that he received notification that the district’s application for the bond funds had been approved the day before.

“We have 120 days to do the paperwork,” Price said.

Though Price went ahead and met with an architect Thursday, the district’s board of trustees must still formally approve the borrowing. The item will be on the board’s agenda for its meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the district central office on Mission 66.

“He’s working on drawings for us now,” Price said.

The board applied for the funds in June, hoping to build additions at VJHS and Warrenton to replace decades-old portable classrooms. In addition, Price said the junior high school needs a new field house. He was looking for and got $1.5 million for each school.

The bonds which, statewide, total just over $132 million, were made available through federal stimulus money directed to the Mississippi Qualified School Construction Bonds program. The money enables interest-free borrowing for approved local projects.

QSCBs provide funding for new construction as well as renovation to existing schools. State allocation limits were set by the U.S. Treasury Department, with the federal government covering most or all of the interest on the bonds, the program announcement stated.

It was not immediately clear how long districts will have to pay back the money.

Price said he did not know when construction could begin at the two schools. A number of steps must be completed first, including soil borings and other site tests and preparations, cost estimates and the following of legally-required bidding procedures.

Warrenton Elementary, with a student population of about 470, was built in 1968. Trailers of portable classrooms have been in use there for about 25 years. The new construction will add a wing with eight to 10 classrooms, Price said.

A similar plan will be proposed for Vicksburg Junior High, which averages about 800 students. Trailers have been used there for perhaps 30 years, Price said in June.

The district serves about 9,000 students at 10 elementary schools, two junior highs, two senior highs and one alternative school. Capital funds are set aside in each year’s budget for other scheduled improvements.