Hoke County Public Schools will use a $10 million grant, funded through lottery sales, to create a new engineering school at Sandhills Community College. | Adobe Stock
Hoke County Public Schools will use a $10 million grant, funded through lottery sales, to create a new engineering school at Sandhills Community College. | Adobe Stock
The Hoke County Public Schools can "dream a little" bigger after being awarded millions of dollars in grants that it will use to build an engineering school.
The financial support comes from the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund, which is raised through NC Education Lottery ticket sales, lottery officials said in a Nov. 6 release. Through the program, the county-wide school district will receive $10 million.
The Hoke County district intends to use the funding to help cover the cost of the $28.19 million SandHoke School of Engineering that will be built at the Hoke County campus of Sandhills Community College.
"The SandHoke School of Engineering will provide additional college pathways for students pursuing an Associate in Applied Science degree," Hoke County Public Schools Superintendent Freddie Williamson said in a statement about the lottery funding. "And [it] will also address the issue of equity by focusing efforts on encouraging our female students to pursue careers in Engineering and Computer Science."
The forthcoming engineering school will have 27 classrooms and labs, which should also reduce overcrowding in other district facilities, the district said in a statement.
"Additionally, this school will allow Hoke County Schools to address the growth of our student population while saving capital funds for future school construction projects," Williamson said in the statement.
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