Board Calls for Bond Election on 9/10/2013
Post date: Jun 27, 2013 7:03:38 PM
$36,720,000 BOND ISSUE ELECTION ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
On June 27, 2013 the Bartlesville Board of Education voted to put before district voters a $36.72 million bond proposal on September 10, 2013. Any funding approved by the voters would be required to go toward:
Bartlesville High School expansions to serve grades 9 and 10, including a 9th Grade Center, for approximately $20.6 million
Central Middle School improvements, including renovating all four floors of the building, revamping the north building into an expanded cafeteria/commons, and adding a new gymnasium, all for approximately $12.2 million
Mid-High renovations to convert it into a replacement for Madison Middle School, for approximately $1.2 million
Classroom technology improvements for grades 6-12, for approximately $0.7 million
Secondary school furniture replacement on an as-needed basis, for approximately $0.3 million
Demolition of the existing Madison Middle School, for approximately $0.3 million [this cost was omitted in the Long-Range Facilities Planning Committee's earlier recommendation to the Board]
District-wide security upgrades, for approximately $1.4 million
Details on these projects will be forthcoming on this website.
MILLAGE WOULD NOT INCREASE; PROPOSAL INCLUDES LEASE-PURCHASE
The proposal is structured so that the existing sinking fund millage (property taxes for school bond issues) would be maintained. Thus approval of the measure would not increase annual property tax levies. Due to limits in the district's bonding capacity and the desire to speed up grade level reconfiguration, the proposal does include lease-purchase funding for some of the high school and Central Middle School construction. This is a common funding method among 6A school districts in Oklahoma and would mean that interest costs for that construction would have to be paid out of the district's building fund rather than out of the sinking fund. The estimated annual impact on the building fund ranges from $350,000 to $600,000, depending on the rate of growth in the district's net assessed valuation and the interest rate on construction loans. While the existing building fund balance could absorb some of those costs, it was projected that the district might have to transfer $100,000 to $150,000 annually out of its general fund to the building fund until 2020 to cover the interest. The district's general fund balance is currently $5.5 million, so board members were comfortable with that burden.
TORNADO SHELTERS TABLED
The board voted 6 to 1, with Randy Herren dissenting, to NOT include on the ballot another proposal of $5 million for tornado shelters. Various board members expressed that, while student safety is their top priority, there were too many uncertainties at this time for such a proposal. They cited lack of scientific and engineering data as to the most effective design for schoolwide shelters at the existing sites, uncertainty on whether or not the state legislature's 2014 session might include some funding for school shelters, the need to explore federal funding options, the associated $1.5 million interest cost to the district's building fund to prioritize shelter construction while also funding needed secondary school improvements, and the fact that even if shelters were approved by voters in September they would not then be ready for use by the spring of 2014, the season when tornadoes are most likely. Board members expressed a desire to revisit the issue later after more fact-finding.