The Illinois State Board of Education has authorized twenty-nine school districtsto sell their local bonds with a federal interest subsidy for construction projects through the U.S. Department of Education's Qualified School Construction Bond program. The program was created under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly referred to as "The Stimulus" or "The Recovery Act," passed at the beginning of President Barack Obama's first term.
A total of $495 million-plus in bonding authority from the federal government will be available to these districts.
“This authorization means selected districts can take advantage of low- to zero-interest bonds to pay for building and construction needs rather than diverting limited financial resources away from the classroom” says State Superintendent of Education Tony Smith. “No state dollars are being spent, and local taxpayers will not have to help foot the bill for high interest costs.”
Districts approved for the bonds include Rockford School Public School District 205 ($29+ million), Aurora East School District 131 ($50 million), Aurora West Unit School District 129 ($26+ million), LaSalle Elementary School District 122 ($5+ million) and Streator Elementary District 44 ($5+ million).
The ISBE received 193 applications from school districts across the state seeking the bond subsidy. Those applications were put through a priority ranking process to arrive at the list of 29 districts approved by the board.
