Hastings seeks Impact Aid grants for area school districts

WAPATO, Wash. -- U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings wants to make it easier for school districts with large amounts of federally owned land in their borders to apply for federal construction grants.

While Hastings' proposal would open the door for more districts to compete, it wouldn't increase how much federal money is available for construction, addressing safety and health concerns at schools in qualifying districts.

The Wapato School District is currently using a $3.7 million grant to replace science classrooms and labs at its high school, which previously lacked basic safety features such as gas leak detectors.

The proposal makes school districts with at least 10 percent of the land in their borders owned by the federal government eligible for competitive Impact Aid grants.

Currently, districts are eligible if they have a high percentage of students whose parents are connected to military facilities, American Indian reservations or other federal property. The amount of federal land in a district is not considered for the grants.

In early February, Hastings, R-Pasco, submitted a bill, which has been rolled into a larger bill proposed by Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., to renew and amend several parts of the No Child Left Behind Act. Kline chairs the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Since government agencies don't pay property taxes, districts with lots of federally owned land theoretically have smaller tax bases to support construction bonds. Created in 1950, the Impact Aid program is meant to help districts affected by the property tax exemptions.

"It's kind of like Uncle Sam paying his share of taxes on land or businesses he owns," said John Forkenbrock, head of the National Association of Federally Impacted Schools.

However, Uncle Sam only pays out about $17 million in competitive construction grants.

Hastings' proposal wouldn't increase the money for grants.

"It's more of a cosmetic fix, because unless there's more money in that pot, more districts won't get money," Forkenbrock said.

Across the country, fewer than 10 districts a year get construction grants. Priority goes to projects addressing serious health or safety concerns.

Usually grants go to districts with many American Indian students living on tribal land, he said.

Many of Wapato's students live on the Yakama Indian Reservation.

The new construction will put "students on a level playing field with other districts," Wapato School District spokesman Mike Balmelli said.

But the benefit of the federal dollars goes beyond the physical improvements.

The grant was "instrumental" in voters passing a $20 million bond in 2011 to rebuild the rest of the high school, Balmelli said.

The impetus for Hastings' proposal came from the Grand Coulee Dam School District, whose student population hovers year to year around the eligibility threshold for the grants. At nearly 15 percent, the federal government owns much of the district, but that doesn't make the district eligible for construction money.

"When you combine federally impacted students, federal land ownership and state land ownership, the district has a severely diminished tax base, and therefore no capacity to secure a construction bond in spite of serious safety and structural issues with their school," said Erin Daly, Hastings' spokeswoman, in an email.

"I have heard far too many stories about schools in Central Washington that are unable to address serious safety risks because they do not have the tax base to secure a construction bond, and I believe it is past time for the federal government to step up its commitments to these students," Hastings said in a news release.

* Dan Catchpole can be reached at 509-577-7684 or dcatchpole@yakimaherald.com. Follow him on Twitter at @dcatchpole.