$6.5 million for Wheatland school

Academy for Career Education, the charter high school in Wheatland that now meets in classrooms of a special education school, was awarded a $6.5 million state construction grant Wednesday.

"This will allow the school to build its own campus," Roger Abe, a Wheatland Union High School District trustee, said of the funds awarded by the California State Allocation Board.

About 50 students attend the academy, Abe said.

He said the new school buildings would be constructed just north of the Wheatland High School football field and across from the cemetery in Wheatland.

Academy students now meet at the Virginia School on Olive Street in Wheatland.

The Wheatland school district and the academy had applied for the state grant, Abe said.

Ric Teagarden, superintendent of the Yuba County Office of Education, said the academy provides career and technical education.

"They're competitive in that there's a lot of details that have to be met," Teagarden said of the state grant.

The funds provided locally are part of $225 million in construction grants the state board made Wednesday to 310 schools in California.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appeal-democrat.com.