PARKERSBURG - Federal stimulus funds will be used to complete a building link and handicapped parking access at Parkersburg High School.

Gov. Joe Manchin Thursday announced West Virginia was the first state to issue school funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Officials with the state School Building Authority said the state was able to issue a $30 million bond and allocate that money to 38 schools in 30 counties for a variety of projects.

The bond, called a Qualified School Construction Bond, provides tax credits to holders rather than tax-exempt interest.

"I'm very proud that West Virginia is the first state to succeed in putting together a bond structure that is allowing us to fund school construction under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Manchin said. in a press release Thursday. "We're able to put this funding to work immediately to improve our schools, create construction jobs and do it at a substantially lower cost to the state."

Lawrence Hasbargen, assistant superintendent of facilities for Wood County Schools, said he had not heard about the federal funds being issued until the media picked up the story Friday.

"I was shocked when I saw that this morning because I didn't know it was coming down the pipe," he said.

Hasbargen said he originally thought the SBA was using state funds to pay for the construction project at PHS, and said the new funding source might cause the school system to seek money for other projects, such as roof repairs, from the SBA.

Many of the projects funded are for the building of new schools or extensive renovations to existing schools.

In Jackson County the money will pay for additions and renovations to Fairplain Elementary School. In Calhoun County, the money will pay for roofing repairs at Arnoldsburg School. A similar project will be undertaken at Gilmer County's high school.

The Qualified School Construction Bonds are a new kind of bond created under the stimulus legislation. These bonds provide tax credits to holders, as opposed to a tax exempt interest, which provides for a zero-interest cost loan for school construction. The tax credit is given by the Federal government so, in simple terms, the state gets an interest-free loan to build or improve its public schools, said Mark Manchin, executive director of the School Building Authority.

"The School Building Authority quickly recognized the benefit of this program and we have become the first state to take advantage of it," Mark Manchin said.