Palmetto Scholars Academy Finances North Charleston School With JEDA Bonds

North Charleston, SC — Charleston County

Palmetto Scholars Academy (PSA) is using $8.5 million in bonds issued through the South Carolina Jobs-Economic Development Authority (JEDA) to build a new facility in North Charleston.

The combination of $8.265 million in tax-exempt bonds and another $230,000 in taxable bonds will be used to acquire, construct, equip and furnish the PSA’s new facility on Joint Base Charleston.

The school for gifted and talented students opened in 2010 in a building on the former Charleston Navy Base. The new facility will be one of only eight charter schools in the United States on an active military installation.

PSA currently has about 280 students and is open to all sixth- through 12th-graders in South Carolina and is a member of the SC Public Charter School District. The school currently employs 30 people and expects to create nine more jobs within 24 months of the project’s completion.

“Our move to Joint Base Charleston marks an important turning point in our ability to serve the educational needs of these promising young learners. JEDA financing makes it possible.”
– Stacey Lindbergh, Chairman of the PSA Board of Directors

“We’re pleased to have a role in making the Palmetto Scholars Academy’s dream of a new facility a reality,” says Rion Foley, Bond Counsel with the McNair Law Firm in Charleston.

“JEDA has assisted in the financing of educational facilities across South Carolina for decades. Taking part in an innovative project that’s hosted on one of our state’s military bases is an exciting new chapter for us,” says Harry A. Huntley, CPA, Executive Director of JEDA in Columbia.