Some local schools could get upgrades — like new roofs and heating and cooling systems — thanks to money funneled from the federal government as part of the stimulus package. Rep. Bob Etheridge, who represents Johnston in the U.S. House, spoke with Johnston County school leaders and county commissioners last week at Clayton High School. Etheridge spearheaded the America’s Better Classrooms Act, which will make $25 billion available for school-building bonds across the country.

North Carolina could see more than $500 million of that money — zero-interest tax-free bonds. The state will dole out the money to each of its school systems.

Johnston County school leaders say they are expecting to get about $4 million. Systems will get the money based on enrollment numbers. Wake schools, a larger system, will get more money than Johnston.

“The intent is to get these projects moving and put people back to work,” Etheridge said. School systems can’t build a school for $4 million. The two high schools Johnston County is building in the Cleveland and Corinth-Holders communities will each cost about $45 million, including land, construction and furniture.

The money isn’t a total problem-solver for overcrowded schools, said Ann Williams, associate superintendent for facility services in Johnston. But everyone hopes getting small-scale projects off the ground will create jobs — or save them.

“You’re going to put a lot of people to work in this state in a hurry,” Etheridge said.

Johnston school leaders already have an idea about how they will spend their cut of the money. Plans are in the works to add 12 classrooms at River Dell Elementary on Buffalo Road near Clayton.

The project would cost about $3 million, said Ed Croom, who will take over as superintendent of Johnston schools next month.

The rest of the money could be used for roofing projects at schools, including East Clayton Elementary, Croom said.

Wake school leaders said it was too early to tell how they would spend the money. A few months ago, school leaders put some projects on hold because of the bad economy, a spokesman for the school system said. Those projects include new roofs and heating and cooling repairs.

Etheridge, who represents the Second District of the state, has been pushing for this kind of federal aid for schools for 10 years. “I thought that bill was going to be old enough to vote before it ever passed,” Etheridge said.

“Now, a decade later, we finally got it done.”

But $25 billion only scratches the surface of school-building needs across the country. The money covers only 10 percent or 11 percent of the needs, Etheridge said.

When the economy tanked, and government leaders worked to put a stimulus package together, Etheridge said he knew the timing was right for the America’s Better Classrooms Act.

The construction projects will create about 11,000 jobs across the state, Etheridge said. The state’s unemployment rate has continued to climb, now reaching nearly 9 percent.

“We’ve had the fourth-highest loss of jobs in the U.S.,” Etheridge said.

Schools can expect to see the money within 30 to 90 days. The state will get another $4 million to dole out to school systems for modernization projects, Etheridge said.