Residents of Newtown, Conn., have voted to use $750,000 in grant money to begin construction on a new Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The grant money comes as an advance from $50 million in funding provided by the state of Connecticut. After a quick town-hall meeting last month, the overflow crowd of about 200 approved the spending by unanimous voice vote, according to The News-Times of Danbury.
The vote allows the preliminary steps of construction—planning and design—to move forward before the town gets access to the remaining $49.25 million in October, pending another vote. After last December’s massacre at the elementary school left 27 dead, including 20 children, several charities began accepting donations for Newtown, but the town and state have squabbled over the distribution of those funds.
