SDA announces loan to replace Dillon school; Rex pushes for ambitious plans
January 27, 2010
COLUMBIA, SC – January 27, 2010 – South Carolina’s oldest school building qualified for federal loans today that could not only replace the decrepit facility, but could also be the springboard for ambitious plans to turn it into a model school for the entire country.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that Dillon County had qualified for $35.8 million in loans and $4 million in grants under the federal stimulus program, with $24 million of those dollars aimed at replacing century-old J.V. Martin Junior High School. Student Ty’Sheoma Bethea captured the nation’s heart last year when she described her school’s conditions in a letter to President Barack Obama, then traveled to Washington and was honored by a standing ovation during the president’s first address to a joint session of Congress.
Several months after Bethea’s trip, State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex made J.V. Martin the centerpiece of a two-day conference in Columbia involving educators, architects, engineers, and technology and health care experts from South Carolina and across the nation. The private-sector participants paid their own travel expenses and gave their time pro bono.
Rex’s goal was to take a negative symbol and turn it into a positive – a national model school for the 21st Century.
At the very least, this loan will make it possible to replace that crumbling old building with a new facility, Rex said. But we want to do more than just replace it. This loan could be the catalyst we need to create the prototype for a new generation of schools that are custom-designed to serve high-poverty rural communities.
Darryl Rosser, CEO of Chicago-based furniture maker Sagus International, has taken the lead role among the project’s private-sector supporters. Rosser made news last year when his company donated $250,000 in classroom furniture to J.V. Martin.
It’s tremendously exciting to get Phase 1 started, Rosser said.
But I’m still anxious to see continued movement toward the additional elements we talked about at last summer’s symposium in Columbia.
Rex and Rosser expressed hope that today’s loan announcement could be the springboard they need to attract additional funding from private and government sources.
This could generate some real momentum, Rex said. If the cards fall right, we could create a school that people from all over the nation visit to see cutting-edge ideas at work.
Participants at last summer’s symposium discussed how to build a school that meets the education, social and health needs of students and their parents. As a community center in a high-poverty area, such a school could include space for doctors, day care and adult classes.
Dillon voters approved a bond referendum in 2007 to replace J.V.
Martin, but the nation’s banking crisis made it impossible to get approval for construction loans. That changed with today’s news.
Fantastic, just fantastic, said Dillon District 2 Superintendent Ray Rogers. Everybody worked so hard to get to this point, and the people in Dillon pledged to repay this loan with their votes on the referendum. It’s a really exciting day.
Rex thanked Rogers for his leadership, and he also thanked South Carolina congressmen Jim Clyburn and John Spratt for their help; the White House and President Obama for making J.V. Martin a priority; Columbia public relations executive Bud Ferillo for his work in spotlighting poor conditions in school buildings; and former J.V. Martin Principal Amanda Burnette, who now works at the Education Department in assisting struggling schools statewide but who has helped lead the effort to help her former school.
I also can’t say enough about Darryl Rosser’s leadership and the work of the other private-sector leaders who continue to give their time so freely, Rex said. It generates confidence to know that they’re staying on board as we move toward Phase 2 with the goal of making the new J.V. Martin a national model.
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the J.V. Martin loan today as part of a larger approval of $140 in community facilities projects funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. USDA has announced
$477.6 million in Recovery Act funding for community facility projects to date.
In total, Dillon County will receive a $35.8 million loan and a $4 million grant to improve education services in its three school districts. Of that total, $24 million will go to J.V. Martin, with the remainder going to build an early childhood center in Latta and to renovate schools in the Lake View community.
