Yonkers ‘bonds’ with charter school
by John Golden
July 30, 2010
Westchester’s only public charter school will expand in Yonkers with
financing assistance from the Yonkers Economic Development Corp.
The nonprofit agency’s board recently agreed to issue tax-free education
revenue bonds to finance an estimated $7.5-million expansion by the
Charter School of Education Excellence (CSEE) at 260 Warburton Ave.
The bonds also will be used by the school to refinance approximately
$3.75 million of debt on its original facility at lower interest rates.
The bonds will pay for off-site construction of a 29,000-square-foot
modular building that will be installed at the rear of the Warburton
Avenue school. The expansion will allow CSEE officials to add a
middle-school curriculum for seventh and eighth grade students to the
school’s elementary-grades program in the 2010 school year.
The project is expected to create 25 permanent jobs and 30 construction
jobs.
“The availability of high quality schools is a magnet that attracts
families and the businesses that employ them to our city,” said Ellen
Lynch, president and CEO of the Yonkers Economic Development Corp. “The
Yonkers EDC knows that the future economic prosperity of our city rests
with a well-educated work force. CSEE is doing its part to help make
that possible.”
The first public charter school approved in Westchester County, CSEE
opened in September 2005 and currently teaches 350 students in
kindergarten through sixth grade. The school in 2009 received a
five-year charter renewal from the state Board of Regents.
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