I am writing in response to The Sun Chronicle's article about Attleboro High School and the Massachusetts School Building Authority's school building grant program ("State stalls new school projects," May 5). The article included several inaccuracies that must be corrected as a matter of public record.

It was stated in the article that the MSBA has yet to set parameters for the application and funding process for new projects and that the lack of information is holding the city back. In fact, the MSBA promulgated new regulations governing the new program for school construction and renovation grants in September 2006. These regulations have been in place for almost two years.

It was also stated that a number of requests from Attleboro to detail the process and rules have been unproductive. In fact, there have been several meetings between the MSBA and officials from Attleboro. As part of the MSBA's due diligence process, on Nov. 5, 2007, the MSBA sent a team of design and construction professionals to Attleboro to assess the high school facility and meet with Attleboro school district officials. The MSBA also had a conference call with Superintendent Pia Durkin and other school district officials on Dec. 7, 2007, to answer their questions about the MSBA's new program for school building construction and renovation grants. Furthermore, the MSBA sent a letter on Dec. 12 to Durkin updating Attleboro on the recent actions of the MSBA board at its November meeting. The MSBA has not received any calls or correspondence from Attleboro since Dec. 7.

The MSBA's statutory mandate is to provide grant funding to cities, towns and regional school districts to help remedy the neediest and most urgent school facility problems. In the first year of the new program, the MSBA received 423 Statements of Interest from 162 school districts. The MSBA has made over 400 site visits to school facilities in the last eight months as part of the process in assessing the SOIs. In addition, the MSBA has held over 100 meetings with local officials to answer questions about the new program and explain the next steps in the grant process. Through the MSBA's due diligence process, it was determined there are many school facilities statewide that are in the same condition as Attleboro High School. The hold status of Attleboro's SOI is subject to change at any time depending on how Attleboro's High School facility's need and urgency fit within the statewide spectrum of need.

The MSBA is committed to creating an efficient and financially sustainable program to fund school facility capital improvement projects. During the next five years, the MSBA will collaborate with municipalities to equitably invest $2.5 billion in schools by finding the right-sized, most fiscally responsible and educationally appropriate solutions to create safe and sound learning environments while being fiscally responsible.

We will never over-promise and under-deliver on any project we work on with a district. The key to our long-term success is to collaborate with school districts to identify and address needs efficiently and equitably based on which facilities are the most urgent and needy. KATHERINE CRAVEN is executive director of the Massachusetts School Building Authority. The story in question, "State stalls new school projects," was based on information Attleboro Superintendent Pia Durkin presented to the Attleboro City Council.