What was the selection process for the projects in the 2012 bond issue?

The group prioritized the needs and developed a final list, focused on several main goals, then identified a funding mechanism and made a recommendation to the Board of Education. The board subsequently voted to seek approval from the voters for a $49.5 million bond issue. That large bond failed to earn the 60% supermajority required for school bond issues in Oklahoma.

The Long-Range Facilities Committee reconvened and was expanded to include varying viewpoints on the failed issue. A community survey was conducted of voters to gather feedback, and the committee continues to work on the thorny issue of the grade configuration for grades 6-12.

Meanwhile, the district must secure funding for operational needs such as textbooks, technology, maintenance, and the like. Otherwise those costs will have to shift to the General Fund, which would mean teacher layoffs and increased class sizes. The smaller constructional projects at the elementary schools and scaled-back improvements at Custer Stadium can proceed without impacting the facilities configuration for grades 6-12.

Eventually the Board of Education voted unanimously to extract some of the smaller, less controversial, and operationally essential portions from the former bond issue for a new vote on August 28. The proposal is deliberately crafted so that is would NOT tie voters' hands to any particular configuration for grades 6-12, leaving that for a future proposal and vote.

KEY COMPONENTS TO THIS BOND PROPOSAL

• No Tax Levy Increase: The bond issue would keep the school millage at its current levels so that property owners would not see an increase in their property tax bills. As old bonds from the 2001 and 2007 issues roll off, they would be replaced by new bonds.

• Eliminate Old Portables at Kane: The only portable classrooms still in use by students are at Richard Kane Elementary and Madison Middle School. The bond will retire the ones at Kane, replacing them with an Early Childhood Center pod like those recently built at Ranch Heights, Wayside and Wilson.

• Preserve Class Sizes By Reducing Costs in General Fund: The bond keeps some capital costs out of the General and Building Funds to help compensate for severe state funding cuts. In Oklahoma bond issues cannot be used to pay salaries, which form almost 90% of the district's General Fund expenses, and the district's capped Building Fund millage cannot even cover maintenance costs. But bond issues can purchase instructional materials and equipment and can construct and renovate facilities. Through careful planning this can greatly ease the burden on the General and Building funds, since absorbing all of those annual costs in the General Fund would be the equivalent of about 27 to 29 teacher salaries.

• Scaled-Back Improvements to Custer Stadium: Only 3.4% of the bond will go toward upgrades at Custer Stadium for safer access and improved visitor concessions, stadium lighting and sound. A new press box is NOT included in this proposal.

• No Effect on Secondary Grade Configuration: This bond proposal is crafted so that it does NOT tie the district to any particular configuration for grades 6-12, leaving that issue for additional study and a future vote in an independent bond proposal.