Local school bond issues fill April ballot

Over $60 million in combined bond issue proposals at three area school districts will go before voters April 8.

School districts in Mount Vernon, Republic and Willard are seeking approval for no-tax-rate-increase issues with primary focuses to improve campuses through new or upgraded facilities.

Mount Vernon R-V Schools is asking voters to approve construction of a performing arts center first proposed over 30 years ago, while Republic School District wants to build an indoor activities facility behind the high school.

In Willard, the school district’s bond measure focuses on construction and renovation projects with student and staff safety as a primary purpose.

All three bond issues require a 57.14% majority to pass.

Mount Vernon
The $10 million bond issue in Mount Vernon aims to add the performing arts center on the high school campus. The project was originally part of the district’s plan for the new high school in 1994. However, higher-than-expected costs led to the center being cut from the project, along with a football complex with an all-weather track and an agriculture education center. The latter two projects have since been built, said Scott Cook, school superintendent.

“So, the auditorium that was cut is something that has never been completed,” he said. “We think it’s the last piece of the puzzle for us there at the high school campus.”

The 10,500-square-foot performing arts center would be connected to the high school building.

“There was an original plan for that space that’s to the west of our high school campus to be used for an auditorium,” Cook said. “The preparation work was there, and there’s a natural place for us to tie in that connects well to our fine arts classrooms that are already there.”

While the project would need to be approved before being put out for bids, officials say early estimates point to a $10 million price tag.

“We see this as an ability to deliver on a 30-year promise that finally finishes that high school campus to the level at which it was promised to be finished,” he said.

Additionally, the project seeks to build a new band classroom with space for storage and rehearsals.

“Right now, our band and choir share a classroom. And both of those programs have grown to the point it’s become really difficult,” he said, noting roughly 80 students are in band with another 70 in the choir program.

The band room also would be constructed to serve as a storm shelter for the high school campus, Cook said, noting the district has 1,500 students, 475 of whom are high schoolers.

“We have this long-term goal of storm shelters at every campus, and we think that with this project we can check that high school campus off the long-term list,” Cook said.

If approved, construction would start in the fall with an expected completion roughly 12 months later. Additionally, the school district’s tax levy will not change from its current rate of just over $3.67 per $100 of assessed valuation.

Republic
The ballot measure in Republic marks the third time in six years the school district is asking voters to approve a construction project. In 2023, voters OK’d a $47 million bond issue to build a new fifth and sixth grade center. Its 120,000-square-foot Intermediate School is on track to open by August, said school district Superintendent Matt Pearce.

That was preceded in 2021 when voters passed a $16 million bond issue that allowed for the construction of a new early childhood center, a storm shelter and gymnasium at Schofield Elementary and funds to purchase property for a new school building.

If passed, the April bond issue would raise $22 million to be used toward construction of a multiuse indoor facility, upgrades to portions of the middle school, addition of air conditioning for Price Elementary’s gymnasium, replacement of heating, ventilation and air conditioning in various buildings and improvement of window safety by adding security film to all exterior doors in each building and to school entrance vestibules.

Pearce said the estimated cost to complete all the projects is $33 million, which is $11 million more than the bond issue.

If the ballot measure is approved, the $11 million would be funded from a combination of interest earned from existing bond issues, savings from the Republic Intermediate School project and district funds set aside for capital projects, according to officials.

The multiuse indoor facility, which would comprise approximately 57,000 square feet of additional classroom space and a 65,000-square-foot turfed area to be used by students during and outside of the school day, is the largest piece of the bond issue, Pearce said. It would be scheduled for completion by August 2026.

“We’re estimating that cost to be somewhere in the $25 million-$26 million range,” he said.

“We don’t have anything more than a best guess based upon other projects that we’ve seen completed.”

Pearce said band, choir, Junior Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and the weight room would move to the activity center, freeing up large spaces in the high school that could be repurposed for around nine classrooms.

“Why we wanted to do it was our programs are continuing to grow and we’re going to expand our capability for JROTC, band and wrestling,” he said. “We’re going to have considerable classroom space in the building for that growth that we know is coming our way.”

Districtwide enrollment in September was 5,109 students with 1,539 of those at the high school, Pearce said. Year-over-year enrollment was up about 1.3%.

If the issue passes or fails, the school district’s tax levy will not change from its current rate of just over $4.21 per $100 of assessed valuation.

Willard
In Willard, the school district has two issues on the ballot. The first is a $30 million bond issue.

If approved, it will extend the debt of the district but not alter tax levy rates for property owners.

The district also is asking voters for permission to transfer money for its tax levy. Its total tax levy – currently $4.12 per $100 of assessed valuation – consists of $2.85 for operating expenses and nearly $1.27 for its debt service. The ballot issue seeks to transfer 22 cents from its debt service to operating, which will not change the total tax levy.

Willard Superintendent Eric Wilken said if the transfer is approved, it will provide about $1.2 million annually to cover operating costs, most of which is dedicated to employee salaries and benefits.

“This transfer will really help us get us where we need to be,” he said, noting Willard’s debt service is higher while its operating level is lower than nearby school districts such as Branson, Bolivar, Nixa and Ozark.

While the district typically hovered around 4,500 students up until 2023, Wilken said school officials saw lower local birthrates impacting future enrollments.

“Enrollment is going down a little bit for us, which we’re planning for, and we saw coming two or three years ago,” he said, noting the district dipped to 4,361 students at the start of this school year – a roughly 1.6% year-over-year decrease.

Unlike the bond issue, which needs 57.14% to pass, the tax levy transfer would only need a simple majority.

A facilities committee formed last year led to a facility plan that included 1,600 responses from a pair of surveys to district patrons. That led to the bond issue, which includes proposed projects for safety and security, such as a multipurpose safe room addition at Willard East Elementary and secure entrances at Orchard Hills Elementary and the high school.

The issue also seeks to add synthetic fields for baseball, football and softball facilities, as well as a new Willard South activities field between Orchard Hills Elementary and Intermediate South. The high school would receive improvements to the theatre, including its sound, lights and stage.

Additionally, Intermediate North, North Elementary and South Elementary would receive updated floors, ceilings, windows and restrooms. Willard Middle School would seek to update its library, gym, lobby, restrooms and HVAC. Wilken said those four buildings are the oldest in the district, noting the bond issue also proposes parking lot improvements and roof replacements.

“We thought it just made sense to run them together,” he said of the two ballot issues. “Both of them are a no tax increase.”