Carbonado Historical School District Superintendent Scott Hubbard doesn’t know if all the letters informing districts they had received an Urgent Repair Grant came with a personal note from Washington state schools leader Randy Dorn, but he was tickled his did.

Hubbard’s kindergarten through eighth-grade school was one of 62 school districts in the state to recently receive an Urgent Repair Grant from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.

About $5 million is being distributed to districts for 73 capital construction projects through the grant program. The program is solely for nonrecurring costs associated with necessary school facility repairs and renovations related to unforeseen health and safety needs.

Carbonado received $85,000 that will reroof its main building, built in 1927, and a covered, attached walkway. Hubbard said the current roof is at least 21 years old, perhaps older.

“We are excited,” Hubbard said. “This is especially good news for my small community. It means that I don’t have to go out and ask them for a capital projects levy when they’re already giving so much for our maintenance and operation levy.”

According to Hubbard’s letter and an OSPI press release, a rigorous competitive selection process was used to evaluate and prioritize requests from the 108 school district applications totaling more than $12 million in projects. The data provided by the applicants provides excellent information for future budgetary considerations.

“This is a great program,” Dorn said in the press release. “It gives the state a chance to give quick help to districts that need minor but critical repairs, such as fire sprinkler systems and roofs and water systems.”

The Carbonado project is expected to be bid in March with construction during the summer.