GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE – More than $55 million has been awarded to Grand Forks Air Force Base Public School District No. 140 as the federal share of a larger $69 million project to build a new Nathan F. Twining Elementary and Middle School on the base, according to U.S. Sens. John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, R-ND.

The award is from the U.S. Department of War’s Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC).

The project will address capacity and condition deficiencies that placed the school at 70th on the 2019 Deputy Secretary of Defense “Public Schools on Military Installations Priority List.” Upon completion, 500 pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students will be supported through the project, according to Department of War information.

“North Dakota is home to some of the nation’s leading U.S. Air Force bases, and it’s vital that our installations have the capacity to support the educational needs of our service members’ families. We worked to fund and advance this OLDCC grant to help ensure that students at Grand Forks Air Force Base receive the high-quality education they deserve,” Hoeven, a member of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, said.

“When we talk about supporting our military families, this kind of investment is exactly what we mean,” said Cramer, chair of the Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee. “Grand Forks Air Force Base is a durable base with a durable mission and needs equally durable, sustained quality of life improvements. Military families make many sacrifices as they defend our freedom, and their children who attend the Nathan F. Twining Elementary and Middle School shouldn’t settle for outdated, unsafe or overcrowded schools. Every child deserves to learn in safe and modern facilities.”