SAFFORD — For the second time in two months, area schools are getting some federal funding.
During its most recent meeting, the Graham County Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed on how to split $475,101.79 in Secure Rural Schools money between the county’s school districts.
“It’s nice to be able to give a double shot to the schools of funding that they really hadn’t anticipated,” said Supervisor Paul David.
The funds are distributed by the federal government to counties with a large amount of public lands that cannot be taxed for schools.
The money will be divided on an 80/20 basis — 80 percent based on student population and 20 percent based on the amount of public lands in the district.
The funds will be distributed as follows:
- Bonita (45.47 percent of district is public lands) — $26,013.45
- Dan Hinton (0 percent of district is public lands) — $1,842.36
- Fort Thomas (3.05 percent of district is public lands) — $38,444.66
- Pima (34.13 percent of district is public lands) — $78,509.29
- Safford (3.12 percent of district is public lands) — $161,911.08
- Solomon (0 percent of district is public lands) — $10,274.34
- Thatcher (14.24 percent of district is public lands) — $107,185.43
The county will retain $50,000 to be used for road maintenance for school buses.
In March, the county received $325,894.18 in Secure Rural Schools funding for 2025.
