Last updated 12:06 p.m., Nov. 15, 2010. Hillcrest High School will receive more than $1.2 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill.
The grant will be funded through FEMA's Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which allows states and local governments to introduce long-term safety precautions.
Hillcrest will use the money to construct a safe room to protect from severe weather, the release said.
The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program pays up to 75 percent of project costs.
Teresa Bledsoe, Springfield Public Schools community relations manager, said the district will likely receive the funds within the next two weeks.
A general contractor has not yet been selected, she said, noting that the project is currently being designed by Esterly Schneider Associates Inc.
Bledsoe said the school district will front the rest of the cost, but the exact cost of the safe room is unknown at this phase in the project. The school district will pay 25 percent, which will come from funds already secured by a construction and improvement bond issue approved by voters in November 2009.
McCaskill spokesperson Laura Myron said the school district applied for the grant directly.
She said McCaskill's office sent the news release to inform the public of the grant but was not involved in obtaining it.
The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program provides grants after a major disaster has been declared. Funds are used in an effort to reduce the loss of life in the event of a severe weather situation and to assist in recovery from a disaster, according to its
Web site.
FEMA made the funds available for Hillcrest following a federal disaster declaration in February 2009 as a result of severe storms and heavy flooding, the release said.
The state FEMA office, in Kansas City, was contacted for further details but was unable to provide them before deadline.[[In-content Ad]]
