COLUMBUS, Kan. — Columbus Faculty District voters will be asked Tuesday to approve a $14.75 million bond concern for renovation do the job, protection upgrades, charge-conserving initiatives and constructing upkeep jobs.
The bond situation would protect the construction of 4 new school rooms that would double as a storm shelter in the superior faculty and remodel the seventh quality wing at the existing substantial faculty campus. The storm shelter will have place for 761 occupants.
Brian Smith, superintendent of faculties, reported the upgrades would assist with staffing performance and value discounts. The present-day seventh and eighth graders are bused to the superior college for elective courses and are common with the campus.
“The purpose we’re wanting at that is mainly because lecturers are certified (in grades) 7-12 at the secondary stage, so you can turn into a good deal much more productive, as considerably as we could in all probability decrease staffing as we go forward when people today depart and retire,” he reported. “There will be positions we will not have to fill, and we could help save dollars there.”
Students in fourth by eighth quality on the Central Elementary and Junior Large University campus should go outdoors in amongst their class durations, which is a security problem and a squander of power savings, Smith explained. The bond concern would support enclose some of the current properties on the Central campus, and then everything would be connected with a technique of hallways.
Just after the higher university campus is completed, the Central campus would endure renovations which include new classrooms and connectors, storm shelters, a cafeteria and kitchen, a media centre and extra. Highland Elementary would keep on being open until design is completed at Central Elementary and Junior High College. The Central campus would then property next and sixth quality.
“The Highland building would shut,” Smith mentioned. “That would go away us with a few campuses and buildings. We would have a pre-K as a result of initial quality in our early childhood middle, a 2nd via sixth grade campus and then a seventh by 12th grade campus.”
“If we’re just closing Highland, it would preserve us $18,000 in our electrical and fuel bills, based on figures from the 2019-2020 school calendar year,” Smith said. “Plus, electrical power charges are heading to go up I believe 10% this 12 months. I feel we’ll conserve around $20,000 in electrical power expenses by itself, and then we’ll have more electricity-economical buildings.”
College districts in Kansas are licensed to levy home taxes for selected money. Residence taxes for these funds are computed employing a mill charge.
A person mill is one greenback of assets tax levied in opposition to $1,000 of assessed valuation. The present mill levy for property owners in the Columbus School District 43.759 mills, and the bond issue would raise the whole university levy by at minimum 9.50 mills.
“Right now, we’re even now performing on our price range, but the most the mill levy would be is 54.054 mills,” Smith explained. “We may well bring it down a small.”
If approved, the bond challenge would charge the owner of a $100,000 dwelling somewhere around an more $109 each year, according to district information.
The evaluate requires a straightforward greater part to go, Smith reported. The bond would expire in 25 several years and has an typical interest charge of 2.50%.
“The final university bond was passed in 1984,” Smith explained. “There’s only a handful of districts in the point out of Kansas that have gone extended in between bonds getting passed.”
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