The chief operating officer for Carrollton City Schools told the Board of Education Thursday the system should receive final approval from the Georgia Department of Education to participate in the Qualified School Construction Bond program in the next couple of weeks.

“We did get preliminary approval back in December,” said CEO Steve Spofford.

The school system applied for permission to sell $8 million in construction bonds, which were created through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, to build a two-story, 32-classroom wing on the middle school, renovate all the bathrooms at the high school and renovate the gymnasium.

The state has a $250 million share in the Qualified School Construction Bond program, but it’s not money that has been given to the state. The schools borrow the money by selling the bonds through the program, but rather than paying interest on the bonds the investors get a tax credit provided through the ARRA. The money can be borrowed for up to 16 years and the system can decide when during that time to start paying the money back. But once it does start it must make equal payments into a sinking fund until the debt is paid in full.

“It really becomes a no-brainer,” said Steve Spofford, who has been handling the application process for the system. “The beauty of that is that not only do we get ... zero interest, all the money that we put in the sinking fund during that time, whenever we start paying it back, we get all the interest that’s attached to it. So, it’s money that we’re paying back, but while it’s sitting in the sinking fund, the interest is coming back to us.”

The school system has already approached the Development Authority about selling the bonds and received the go ahead. The rest of the process should move along quickly, he said.

For the program, the school system was required to fund projects that had not already been started and could be completed within three years. That means it has to move pretty quickly. The system has been working on plans for its projects – a $500,000 renovation of the high school bathrooms, a $2 million renovation of the gymnasium and a $5.5 million addition to the middle school.

“We’ll have those (plans) ready to submit to the state as soon as they give us the official approval,” Spofford said.

The cost of the projects are a little inflated because the system must follow federal guidelines in the Davis-Bacon Act. The payroll requirement of the act could add as much as 20 percent to the final costs, but the system is estimating it will be closer to 15 percent. It’s still a good deal because the sluggish economy has driven down the cost of construction, Spofford said.

Before it starts any projects, the system will hold public meetings to gain public input about the projects. It will also have to go back before the Development Authority to get final approval. Then it’s a matter of issuing the bonds.

“If you’ve had an opportunity to visit or you have a child at the junior high school, just having three grades in that facility is very difficult,” said Superintendent Kent Edwards.

The addition to the middle school would allow the system to move the sixth grade to the new middle school wing freeing up space in the junior high for future growth the system is anticipating.

The board will be able to discuss the final plans before the projects are set to begin, Edwards said.

Edwards also asked the board for its blessing to start working with the state on System Strategic Planning. Organizing the new process would last between nine and 12 months, but would increase the transparency of system planning and increase shareholder’s opportunity for input, he said. Board Chairman James Pope, and members Dr. Michael Rothschild and David Godwin all expressed support.

The members also received a report on the system’s documentation and use of results from Director of Student Services Wina Low. The system is doing a self-evaluation on its processes in preparation for Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation. It has pointed out some processes that could be improved that the administrators had not seen, that will make it easier for the stakeholders and students to receive the information they want about the system and school.