Daines Announces $2.5 Million for Montana Tribal Schools

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Steve Daines today announced that Lodge Grass Elementary School District and Heart Butte School District were awarded nearly $2.5 million in construction grants for FY2016. 

Heart Butte and Lodge Grass Elementary school districts are among seven educational agencies nationwide to receive Impact Aid Discretionary Construction Grants this year. The funding will be used to address emergency health and safety conditions in school facilities.

“These grants will provide Heart Butte and Lodge Grass schools with additional resources to ensure the safety of their students and to better serve their communities,” Daines stated. “This additional support will help students on the Blackfeet and Crow Reservations to have the resources they need to learn.

Heart Butte School District will receive $1,764,973 to replace the existing deteriorated and leaking roofs of the high school and elementary school portion of the buildings. The district educates 169 students in grades K through 12 and is on the Blackfeet Reservation. The district will contribute $1,025,274 of its own funds to the cost of the project.

Lodge Grass Elementary School District will receive $734,483 to replace the building’s water related plumbing fixtures which have reached their useful life expectancy. The district serves 186 students on the Crow Reservation.  

Daines is a member of the Senate Impact Aid Coalition and has long advocated for robust Impact Aid funding, both as a Senator and while serving in the House of Representatives.

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