On Tuesday, the United States Department of Agriculture announced that the Shenandoah Valley School District has been awarded a grant.
The school district was 1 of 5 projects that received investments to help serve rural Pennsylvanians through the Community Facilities Programs. The investment funding may be used to assist in the development of essential community facilities in rural communities with extreme unemployment and serve economic depression. For example:
Shenandoah Valley was awarded $39,300 in loan and $15,700 in grant in the Community Facilities Loan and Grant program along with $38,300 in Economic Impact Initiative Grants funding to benefit 5,071 rural Pennsylvania.This investment will be used by the Shenandoah Valley School District for the purchase and/or installation of two Ford vans, HVAC-related equipment, audio-related equipment, and maintenance-related equipment. The vans will provide transportation for special education and homeless students. The 26-year-old roof top air conditioning unit will be replaced since it is beyond repair.
The district will also be replacing existing windsock ducting for the high school gymnasium which was deemed unsafe. The gymnasium sound system will also be replaced since it has exceeded its useful life of 25 years.
Additionally, in order to save on rental fees, it will be purchasing equipment such as a jack hammer, a cement mixer, and a cut off saw for the maintenance of its buildings.