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The Crandall school district loves seeing those sold signs in Heartland, a new development along Interstate 20.
For every home sold, the district gets a half percent of the sales price -- every time the home is sold for 35 years.
A half-percent may not seem like much but in a development where thousands of homes are planned that could prove a real windfall. The district also gets about 10 percent of the cost of educating a student for each new child from the development. So far, the district’s received about $60,000.
“My hat’s off to Heartland. That’s pretty cool,” said Sharon Long, Crandall’s assistant superintendent.
Some of the money will go to scholarships for students who live in Heartland, and, eventually, some will go to teachers for special projects.
The Forney district has worked out a similar arrangement with the newly created Polo Ridge. Plans for that development, also along Interstate 20, are just getting underway. But when houses are sold the Forney district will receive a half percent of the sales price for the Forney Education Leadership Foundation. The foundation provides scholarships to students throughout the district and hopes the development will bring enough money to fund other projects.
“They plan 1,000 homes at roughly $200,000 each,” figured Forney Chief Financial Officer Dwayne Thompson. “And we get money each time the house is sold.”
The foundation stands to get $1.2 million over the next 10 years, he said. And that money will be available throughout the district, not just for students who live in Polo Ridge.
Crandall also will get some additional bonuses from Heartland. The development, as many developments do, has donated sites for new schools. Altogether, there are six elementary schools and one middle school planned.
“Donated school sites across the state are common,” Dr. Long said, “but school sites with infrastructure -- streets, sewer and technology right up to the school – we understand that’s unusual.”
Heartland also will give the district a one-time $500,000 grant to help cover start-up costs at new schools.
“Crandall has a great school system and we wanted to make sure we helped them stay as great as they are,” said Elaine Ford, Heartland project manager for Hillwood, the company developing the project. “We wanted to make sure we were a partner with them for the beginning.”
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| Last Updated: Jan 4th, 2009 - 18:57:55 |
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