East Cooper Montessori Charter School Building Funded through JEDA
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Bond financing facilitated by the South Carolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority (JEDA) has helped secure the financial future of a fast-growing charter school in Mount Pleasant.
The $2.7 million tax-exempt bond issue will be used by the East Cooper Montessori Charter School for permanent financing of the new 13,000-square-foot building.
The school, which opened as a public Charter school in 2003 with 44 students serving Grades 1 through 8, has grown its student body population to nearly 200 students. The new eight-classroom building includes a computer lab, smart boards in each classroom and a grand hall.
"The school employs a team of dedicated and dynamic educators that provide an innovative school of choice for Charleston families. The bond financing option allows the school to better utilize public funds and redirect resources toward educational programming," said Jody Swanigan, Principal of East Cooper Montessori Charter School.
The funding was made possible by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. "The Stimulus Act allows 501(c) (3) organizations such as the school to access lower interest rates and longer-term financing with their own tax-exempt, bank-qualified bond limits," said bond counsel Samuel W. Howell, IV of Howell Linkous & Nettles, LLC in Charleston.
"Helping secure funding for a project like this is particularly gratifying," Howell said, "because it also helps secure educational opportunities for our children, which in turn helps secure the future of our community and is a key element of the quality of life for everyone who lives here."
Harry Huntley, Executive Director of JEDA in Columbia, said, "It’s hard to imagine a more worthy venture for the state’s enterprise agency than that of an innovative, progressive new school. We’re pleased to have some role in the education of our future leaders."