Maine's public school districts will have access to more than $41 million in federally-issued bonds this year to help fund construction projects. The money is part of $11 billion in school construction bonds allocated nationwide under the federal Recovery Act. The bonds can be issued to finance school construction and improvements at a low cost. That's because investors who buy the bonds will get federal income tax credits instead of interest, so state and local governments can borrow without incurring interest costs.

"This is a great program in that it provides zero percent bonds for the construction projects," says Maine Department of Education spokesman David Connerty-Marin. "Obviously in the current economic climate not everybody is able to do that even with the zero percent -- zero percent interest is not the same as free money."

Nevertheless, Connerty-Marin says for many Maine schools hard-hit by budget cuts, the financing will be a welcome way of funding much-needed renovation and repair. "There's a great need for capital projects involving schools in Maine, and this is one more opportunity, one more tool in the tool box, that allows schools to move forward with some of those construction projects."

State Sen. Justin Alfond, a Cumberland County Democrat, is chair of the Legislature's Joint Standing Committee on Education. He says there's strong demand for school construction funds in Maine. "The last report, in 2008, did a survey of our schools, and there was hundreds of millions of dollars of school construction needs, so this $41 million will be received incrediblly well by our schools."

Among them, the Auburn school district, where Jude Cyr serves as business manager, and oversees 3,500 students in 12 facilities in the twin cities area. "We just developed a capital improvement plan for the next five years, and in that plan we're looking at our needs for renovations. We've got a list for next year of about $2.3 million of needs."

Cyr says the school buildings are worth about $85 million, and they require a lot of upkeep. "They are aging and are in need of some replacement -- it's no different than if you own a home and at some point in time you've got to put it a new roof, you've got to put siding, new windows."

The only difference, perhaps, is that, unlike most homes, Auburn school properties would ideally need about $1.7 million spending on them every year just to maintain and renovate them. In the current economic climate though, the district has had to make do with considerably less than that for the last few years.

Cyr says he expects the district to apply for about $1 million in bond money this year to help with various construction projects: among them, the upkeep of the 50-year old Edward Little High School in Auburn, where Jim Miller is principal.

"We've done a good job at upkeeping as best you can, but it does need some major work done to it," Miller says.

In fact, the district is in the process of applying for state funding for the construction of an entirely new high school -- something which is expected to cost around $60 million. But that process will take a number of years, says Miller, and in the meantime, there are a number of areas where some bond money would be useful.

"I think we're looking at things like doors, and roofs and windows, those types of things that you can do, heating systems, ventilation systems, some things which are 50 years old, so some of them need to have some repairs done on them," Miller says.

Meanwhile in a cash-strapped corner of rural Maine, one school administrator has more modest, but equally pressing, renovation needs. "We need money badly. We need money for our school disrtict to be used for operational, vital items," says James Underwood, superintendent of School Union 106, which caters to around 800 students in and around Calais, in Washington County. "At one of my schools, the floor tile throughout the school is in disrepair and in bad need of replacement, to the sum of about $10,000."

There are four buildings in Underwood's district, he says, all in dire need of maintenance work -- in total, he needs about $50,000. "Similar-type projects I could do in each of those schools with the bond that you're talking about, and I had hoped to be able to do it this year, and it would provide local jobs."

For more information on the bond allocation from the U.S. Treasury Department, click here.