DOD Grants Will Fund New Elementary Schools at Kirtland, Fort Riley

Albuquerque Public Schools will use a $16.25 million grant, awarded by the Defense Department’s Office of Economic Adjustment, to demolish and rebuild Wherry Elementary School located on Kirtland AFB, N.M., according to a DOD release. The school, which was ranked No. 11 on DOD’s public schools on military installations priority list, will serve 500 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. OEA also awarded Geary County Unified School District 475 a $16.1 million grant to replace the Fort Riley Elementary School at Fort Riley, Kan. That school also will serve 500 students in grades K-5. Funding for the grants is provided under DOD’s public schools on military installations program, which must give priority consideration to military installations that are deemed the most deficient, states the release.