School district turns back grant money

The Grand Coulee Dam School District is withdrawing from a $580,000 energy grant awarded by the state.

The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction announced the grant early in April, and only a few days later the district learned that much of its new facility plan had been funded by the state.

The district had been working on the grant for nearly a year and was prepared to re-do lighting and controls in its respective school buildings. It was projected that much of the improvements would pay for themselves through energy savings in as little as three to five years.

Since many of the facilities within the district that would have been covered in the energy grant won’t survive the wrecking ball, the district turned the grant back.

Center School and the Grand Coulee Dam Middle School will both be vacated and the classroom wing at Lake Roosevelt will come down.

In addition to the $580,000 grant, there was a $174,000 incentive package and just over $400,000 as the school district’s portion of the project.

The board of directors voted to withdraw from the grant at their meeting last Wednesday night.