SPS task force moving forward on $220M bond proposal

The Springfield Public Schools Board of Education's Community Task Force is moving forward on a $220 million bond issue proposal.

District spokesperson Teresa Bledsoe said the Community Task Force is expected at its meeting tonight to approve its final bond report. The task force then will make recommendations on Oct. 11 to the school board, which has until January to vote to meet the deadline to put the proposal on the April 2023 ballot, she said.

At its Oct. 4 meeting, the task force chose the $220 million no-tax bond proposal that would fund projects at Pipkin Middle School, Pershing K-8 and Robberson Community School, as well as safety and security initiatives. If funding allows, the next priority would be Reed Middle School, Bledsoe said.

"The recommendation is to renovate Pershing, and all the others would be new construction," she said via email.

SPS Superintendent Grenita Lathan spoke about the potential bond issue during Springfield Business Journal's 12 People You Need to Know live interview event last month. She said the board appointed the task force in July.

"They have toured our facilities," Lathan said of the task force during the recent interview. "The board has the right to accept the report as is or they have the right to make changes to it."

SPS is working to wrap up facility improvement projects approved by voters in 2019 through the $168 million bond issue dubbed Proposition S. Lathan last month said Jarrett Middle School, Hillcrest High School and York Elementary School are the final projects and on track for completion in early 2023.