Schools get federal grant

At Monday's Dorchester District 2 school board meeting, Superintendent Joe Pye announced the district has received a $200,000 federal grant that will help improve sidewalks and safety in the neighborhood surrounding Beech Hill Elementary.

The grant comes through the federally funded Safe Routes to School Program which was established in 2005 as a way to create more conducive environments for students to walk or ride bicycles to school.

According to the Web site of the South Carolina Department of Transportation, the program helps communities in the plan, develop and implement projects and activities that will improve safety and reduce traffic.

SCDOT administers the grants throughout the state.

This is the second straight year that Dorchester District 2 secured a grant through the program. Last year, it received an award to begin working on projects around Alston Middle School. Mike Windham, the district's director of state and federal programs, said the majority of the funds will be used for sidewalks and crosswalks. At least 10 percent has to be used for curriculum.

He alsosaid the district has yet to be able to use any of the money allocated for Alston because the plans that have been submitted still have a couple of levels of approval to go through.

"It's a reimbursement type grant. We can't spend any money until it gets approved," he said.

He said the district has a plan that's ready to be implemented as soon as it gets final approval from the state, and improvements around Alston Middle School could be in place by the end of the school year. But, using this as an example of the lengthy process of putting a grant into action, he said the money allocated for Beech Hill might not be freed up until the summer.

He said it was a pleasant surprise for the district to get another grant from the program. Beech Hill and another proposal for the Appian Way community were turned down last year. He believes the Beech Hill proposal earned approval this time because the school and the neighborhoods it serves are separated by Highway 61.

"That was probably part of the reason. It's a dangerous road," he said.

Windham said the Appian Way proposal, which would have helped River Oaks Middle School and Eagles Nest Elementary, likely was passed over because those schools have been open for less than three years.

However, at the school board meeting, Pye said the district will resubmit the Appian Way proposal and see if a third straight grant can be secured.

Reach Bill Henley at 745-5865 or bhenley@postandcourier.com.