School of the Osage School District, Mo., voters will be asked in less than two weeks to approve a $23 million bond issue that will impact every grade level with an eye to the future.
The question will be on the Tuesday, April 3, general municipal election ballot.
If the ballot issue is approved, the district's debt service property tax levy is estimated to increase by 15 cents from 54.9 cents to 69.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation of real and personal property.
On a home with an assessed value of $100,000, the increase would translate to $2.38 cents a month, or $28.56 a year.
The board of education decided to move forward now with a larger bond issue to include the long list of improvements to save money rather than a bond issue now and another a few years down the road.
Specifically, the ballot language says the bond issue is to improve safety and security; furnish, equip, renovate and building additions to school facilities including:
- An Early Childhood Center on the Heritage Campus where the former Mills Elementary School was located
- Improve safety and security by reconfiguring traffic access, renovating office space, installing a secured entry and making general improvements at the Upper Elementary School
- Renovate the high school auditorium, kitchen, locker rooms, music classrooms and build new classrooms at the high school
- Renovate the existing athletic fieldhouse to improve the concessions, locker rooms and restroom area
- Build a new fieldhouse at the high school which will also act as a storm shelter and will include additional locker rooms, a training room, additional classroom space and a community room
- Renovate the existing athletic practice facility at the Middle School to provide for a competition soccer facility including outdoor seating and a fieldhouse
- Enlarge the playground area and install a service elevator at the Heritage Elementary
"These improvements will touch every student in our district," Assistant Superintendent Brad Yoder noted.
"We've seen significant growth in our programs and a steady increase in our student population. We need to accommodate this growth and be prepared for the future needs of all Osage students."
Buildings on all three campuses will be impacted.
Bond funds would be used for capital improvements that would address aging and inefficient learning spaces, offer new learning opportunities for the district's smallest students through the Early Childhood Center and would provide new and expanded facilities for fine arts and athletics, according to Yoder.
