Hinckley-Big Rock School District stands to receive $1.9 million from the state if Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s budget is passed.

The district would use the money to cover some of the costs of ongoing building improvements at the high school and elementary schools, Superintendent Glen Littlefield said.

Voters accepted a financing referendum in 2002 with the understanding that the district was eligible for reimbursement from the state, Littlefield said.

The district counted on the funding to come through, Littlefield said, as past experience showed that the state would give the district the money it needed.

“It would be highly unusual for the state not to [offer the construction grant],” Littlefield said. The two years that have passed since the referendum is a little longer than what was expected, he said.

Hinckley-Big Rock High School, in southeast DeKalb County, is adding a gymnasium, two science labs, three classrooms and other facilities.

Blagojevich presented his capital spending plan to the General Assembly on March 23. The legislature will consider the proposal in the coming months.

The potential grant is part of a $550 million capital spending plan for the state’s schools in fiscal year 2005.

The spending plan includes the reinstatement of the School Maintenance Grant Program, which has not been funded the last five years.

The program would provide schools with grants of up to $50,000 to match local funding commitments, the governor’s office said.