District may be eligible for funds

Teresa Hinds

Friday, July 12, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Nevada could be eligible for up to $50 million in federal money for school construction and rehabilitation if President Clinton's $5 billion education initiative is approved by Congress.

But because the Clark County School District's 1996 bond issue has already been submitted, the district will not be eligible for federal funds until it proposes another bond issue, probably in two years.

Clinton unveiled the four-year program Thursday. The money would help school districts achieve lower interest rates on their bond issues, said Marshall Smith, undersecretary of the Department of Education.

If Congress approves it, school districts who submit bond proposals after June 11 will be eligible for subsidies.

An estimated $1.25 billion a year for the interest subsidies would be available for four consecutive years to jump-start repair and new building projects in the nation's 80,000 public schools.

The program comes just two weeks after a General Accounting Office report documented a need to fix roofs, plumbing and make other repairs in hundreds of school buildings nationwide.

The GAO reports 23.2 percent of Nevada schools have at least one building in need of extensive repair, and 39.5 percent have at least one unsatisfactory environmental condition, which could include lighting, heating, ventilation and physical security.

The report also documented 13.1 percent of Nevada schools need to spend more than the national average to bring their facilities into good condition, and 26.2 percent lack telephone lines for modems.

The administration is proposing to finance the program with proceeds from the federal government auctions of communications licenses, which so far have raised $20 billion.

The administration hopes that over the four years, the $5 billion in interest subsidies will spur $10 billion to $20 billion in projects at 5,000 to 10,000 schools across America.

Smith said the president realizes school districts need help in financing those projects. Since the government cannot afford to finance the $113 billion in construction the GAO report says is needed across the country, Smith said, Clinton has offered this initiative as a jump-start for school construction bonds.

Clark County voters will decide Nov. 5 whether to approve a $643 million bond issue to build and rehabilitate schools. They approved a $605 million bond issue for school construction in 1994.

THE ASSOCIATED Press contributed to this story.