The Department of Defense announced today the award of a $35,769,141 grant from the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation to Albuquerque Public Schools to replace the current Sandia Base Elementary School facility with a new school on Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. The grant is part of a larger $44,711,426 project for design and construction activities.
Upon completion, the new school will serve up to 576 students Pre-Kindergarten through fifth grade and address capacity and facility condition deficiencies that placed Sandia Base Elementary School as the 42nd school on the 2019 Deputy Secretary of Defense "Public Schools on Military Installations Priority List" (Priority List).
Funding for this grant is provided under the Department's Public Schools on Military Installations Program. In making these funds available, the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation must give priority consideration to military installations that have schools with the most serious capacity and facility condition deficiencies, as determined by the Priority List.
A multi-disciplined Federal Evaluation Team, with representatives from the Assistant Secretaries of the Air Force, Army and Navy, and the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation, reviewed the school project to ensure the award appropriately addresses the noted capacity and facility condition deficiencies.
In correcting the identified facility condition and capacity issues at Sandia Base Elementary School, this grant keeps faith with service members, improves the quality of education for defense-connected students, aids in the recruitment and retention of vital skills at Kirtland Air Force Base, and enhances partnerships between the communities and the installation.