The Garden City Telegram
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Leoti school bond finally successful
Published 6/10/2009 in Local News : Education
By MONICA SPRINGER
LEOTI — More buildings soon will dot the sky in this town of 2,288 people after a $4.5 million school bond issue passed by a landslide Tuesday.
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Monica Springer/Telegram — R.B. Stewart Elementary School will be closed and replaced with dome structures as part of the bond issue voters approved Tuesday in the Wichita County School District.
Once construction is completed, students will attend school in domed and newly energy efficient buildings.
Voters in Wichita County approved the bond issue, which will replace the more than 80-year old crumbling R.B. Stewart Elementary School, by a vote of 577-174.
School bond elections aren't new in Wichita County. This was the district's fourth attempt to pass a bond issue to replace the school.
Superintendent Jim Hardy said prior to the election that he was cautiously optimistic that the bond issue would be successful. The goal wasn't just to have a successful bond issue, he said, but also to bring the community together. And Hardy said he was proud that voters favored the plan so heavily.
The first bond issue, in 2003, for $10 million, was not successful. A 2007 bond issue for $8 million and a 2008 election for a $5 million bond issue also failed.
"The community values education and students. They were waiting for a plan they could support," Hardy said.
The USD 467 Board of Education, along with the superintendent and the rest of the community, started thinking about another bond issue after the district received bad news in November. The district's insurance company would not continue to cover the elementary school because of its deteriorating condition.
A series of about 20 community meetings were held in which the community discussed what it wanted to see in a new school.
In Leoti and in other communities in Wichita County, signs that encouraged voters to go to the polls were placed in yards of homes, businesses and schools.
Hardy said it's too soon to know when construction will start on the project, but once it does, it will take 12 to 18 months to complete.
The plan to update the district's facilities calls for the middle school to be turned into a grade school for kindergartners through sixth-graders, with an academic dome and a physical education dome attached to the building. The high school would house grades seven through 12, with one dome for physical education. There also will be a metal building built north of the high school to accommodate the vocational agriculture program.
The domes are designed to be energy efficient with low construction costs.
Taxes on a $50,000 house would increase by $4.73 a month or $56.81 a year. On an $80,000 home, taxes would go up $7.57 a month or $90.90 a year.
On a $100,000 commercial property, taxes would increase $20.58 per month or $247 a year. On a $150,000 commercial property, taxes would increase $30.88 or $370.55 per year.
'This is something we need'
The polls were steady all day long, Deputy County Clerk Carol Cary said. Voters cast their ballots at the community building in Leoti, located near the fairgrounds.
Lynn Elder-Blau and Stanley Blau, Leoti, have two daughters in Wichita County schools. Lynn said the community hasn't always voted in favor of bond issues because of the cost and other factors.
Since the superintendent and board of education trimmed the extras out of the current bond issue, the Blaus said they hoped the bond issue would pass as they went to vote about 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Lynn said she is on the site council for the elementary school, which is similar to a parent-teacher organization. She said there are some places at the school that have the exposed dirt floor.
"This is something we need in Leoti," she said. "It's important that we have a decent, healthy environment for the kids to learn."
Stanley said the superintendent, along with the Board of Education, gave the community a plan that it wanted. Both said they voted "yes" in the election.
55 percent voter turnout
Deputy county clerks Cary and Mary Gerstberger said they had a respectable turnout for the election. Out of 1,375 registered voters in Wichita County, more than 750 voted, for a 55 percent voter turnout.
"We usually get a turnout like this in a presidential election," Gerstberger said.
The count is considered unofficial. It will become official when it is canvassed Friday, though there's only one provisional ballot.
Gerstberger and Cary both said they weren't surprised by the results.
"People realized we needed to do something," Gerstberger said, adding that the plan that was passed was economical.
Next Step
After Hardy received word the bond issue passed, his phone was buzzing.
After fielding congratulatory phone calls from his family and the community on Tuesday night, Hardy gave a timeline of the events that will happen next.
The district and the Board of Education will work with the district's financial adviser to sell the bonds, after which time construction can proceed.
On the Web:
Download a preliminary floor plan for the school's main floor and for the upper floor.
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