The Falls Church School Board will apply for a low interest federal bond for $6 million for improvements and expansion of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, Board chair Joan Wodiska told the F.C. City Council tonight. The School Board will take advantage of so-called Qualified School Construction Bonds that promise to save Falls Church major financial resources to submit a proposal by the Nov. 19 deadline.

Wodiska said the School Board will discuss the competitive submission for the bond at its meeting tomorrow night, and that the Board has determined it will pay the service on the bond for the first three years out of its contingency funds, relieving the City Council of the need to fund at higher interest rates for the T.J. improvements in coming years.

She said that TJ will be filled to capacity by 2012 and is in need of significant improvements. She noted that expanding the campus size will also allow for the return of the sixth grade from the Henderson Middle School to T.J. as the School Board manages robust enrollment growth.