Stimulus prompts schools to pursue $50M in bonds

With the upcoming Police and Fire pension tax dominating the Nov. 3 ballot, Springfield Public Schools officials have gone on the offensive to remind the voting public about a proposed $50 million bond issue designed to leverage federal stimulus incentives.

After months of highly publicized debate about how to best shore up the underfunded pension fund for the city's police officers and firefighters, Springfield City Council ultimately favored a -cent sales tax that will appear on the upcoming ballot. A 1-cent sales tax proposal for the same purpose narrowly failed at the polls in February.

SPS officials aren't thrilled about competing with the tax proposal, but the temporary availability of interest-free bonds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act forced their hand, Superintendent Norm Ridder said.

"This kind of threw a curve at us," he said. "It's hard for us to predict what's going to happen. This (proposed sales tax) is going to make it very hard for us, so we feel we need to get out and be very transparent and make sure that everybody knows what the issue is and what their vote means, whether they're for it or against it."

The proposed bond issue does not increase taxes, but it would extend an existing debt-service levy of 51 cents per $100 of assessed valuation from 2026 through 2030. District officials stressed that the levy will remain the same through 2026 regardless of whether voters approve or reject the bond issue.

Lure of interest-free bonds

District officials opted not to take a bond issue proposal to voters in April in light of the recession, and Ridder said they also were inclined to let the November election cycle pass to allow more time for improved economic conditions. The prospect of interest-free bonds, however, prompted the district to hurriedly assemble a $50 million bond proposal that actually omitted two major renovation projects planned at Jarrett and Reed middle schools that together would cost an estimated $18.5 million.

"To go for $50 million kind of shortchanged our efforts," Ridder said. "We really needed more than that."

On the flip side, the district expects to qualify for $5 million to $7 million in interest-free bonds to offset $9 million in lease obligations for the new Hickory Hills school, provided at least 57 percent of Greene County voters support the proposal at the polls next month. Through the federal stimulus package, Missouri received $282 million to be doled out to the state's public schools by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education over two years, said Gerry Lee, president of the Springfield R-XII Board of Education.

"The biggest variable in that whole thing is not whether you're getting the money; it's the amount and how many other school districts pass bond issues between now and that (June) deadline," Lee said. "That somewhat dictates the amount of funding you'll receive, and how DESE will allocate that $141 million (in 2010-11)."

Air conditioning and LCDs

If approved, the bond issue would fund a plethora of improvements, starting with $17.3 million worth of air-conditioning upgrades at eight schools and the Tefft Center, which houses the district's curriculum services personnel.

The upgrades would round out a 10-year effort to air-condition every district school, Lee said. Having all schools air-conditioned would provide scheduling flexibility and a better learning environment, he added.

Another significant improvement on the docket would equip every classroom with LCD projectors and interactive whiteboards, which allow teachers to interface with computers, Ridder said. The total cost: $2.5 million.

Other school projects slated to receive bond funding include:

• Technological and electrical upgrades at Hillcrest High School, in addition to a remodeled auditorium, kitchen improvements and new stadium lighting;

• Expansion at Westport Elementary School to accommodate students from Study Middle School. The addition would include a cafeteria, gymnasium and classrooms;

• A high school-size gym at Jeffries Elementary School that would include restrooms and a corridor connecting the gym to the school;

• Technological and electrical upgrades to Glendale High School, plus new stadium bleachers and lighting; and

• New stadium lighting at Kickapoo High School.

Dr. Tom Prater, vice president of the Board of Education, said voters should look at the district's track record, specifically projects funded with a $96.5 million bond issue approved in April 2006.

"We promised to air-condition 18 schools, build a new southwest school, upgrade several high school facilities, and completed all that," said Prater of Mattax-Neu-Prater Eye Center Inc. "And with some smart contracting and bidding, we were actually able to add on three more schools for air-conditioning."

Lisa Langley, who chairs the pro-bond issue Better Schools for Kids Committee, gave the district high marks for seeking out community input on needed improvements and then following through. The end result is a more competitive school system, she said.

"Unfortunately, you have a lot of people who look at the curb appeal of buildings," she said. "So in order for us to compete, we have to make sure now our buildings are up-to-date and that they have air-conditioning. This brings us to the 21st century, for heaven's sake."

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