Hays USD 489 bond team proposes $78.5M project, two new elementary schools

The Hays USD 489 Vision Team discusses a possible bond issue Tuesday night.

By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

The Hays school district Vision Team will be recommending a $78.5 million bond to the school board at its June 26 meeting.

The bond would be paid for through a 30-year mill levy that would equal a tax increase of $16.43 per month on a $150,000 home.

The district is proposing to drop its capital outlay mill levy by 2 mills to decrease the burden on taxpayers.

The proposed bond project would include the following:

Elementary schools
• Two new elementary schools
• Renovation to Roosevelt Elementary School including a new secure entrance
• Renovation of O’Loughlin Elementary School for use by Early Childhood Connections, the Westside program and the Learning Center.

Middle School
• New secure front entrance
• Build a new gym to accommodate physical education programs
• Renovate and expand the cafeteria and kitchen space

High School
• New secure entrance
• New auditorium that would double as a storm shelter
• Larger classrooms to accommodate modern learning practices. This would include renovation of the career and technology education classrooms

Wilson, Lincoln, Westside, Washington and Munjor would be vacated. Munjor would go back to the Catholic Church.

Provisions would be made in the bond to sell, demolish or find other uses for the vacated schools.

Superintendent John Thissen said Rockwell is not a part of the bond issue, but the district would eventually address the Rockwell building and housing of administration.

“We wanted the bond to focus on students,” he said.

The Community Vision Team, administrative team and executive team all debated Tuesday the need for the second new elementary and all three decided that closure of Wilson was the best option financially.

Wilson is a 56-year-old building. It is worth about $5.9 million, but would cost about $15.6 million to renovate. A new building will cost $21 million.

“It is scary,” Chris Dinkel, team member, said of the second elementary school. “It is a pretty big ask.”

Dinkel later voted to move forward with the plan.

Renovating Wilson would not eliminate some of the needs for maintenance associated with an older buildings, members of the DLR, the district’s architectural firm, said.

Because of the cost ratios to a new building and the building’s worth, DLR did not recommend renovating the building.

The bond teams considered various funding options for the bond Tuesday but decided the option they choose would allow the district to maximize its investment while minimize the impact on taxpayers.

Some team members expressed concern about the funding mechanism for the bond, including the extension of the bond to 30 years and the shift in the levy from capital outlay to a bond.

However, DLR staff noted that by restructuring the bond, and adding 1 mill, which equals $18 per year on a $150,000 property, the district can accomplish all of its key priorities, including the second new elementary school.

The district had considered using a countywide sales tax to support the bond issue, but the Hays City Commission indicated it would not support a sales tax.

The Vision Team will present the bond proposal to the school board at its next meeting on June 26. A timetable for its approval or calling for a bond election has not been set. It could be as early as the November election, but Thissen said that does not have to be the timeline.

“You have a good plan that will touch every school and every child,” Troy Wade, DLR consultant, told the group. “You are taking next steps and making a 25-year plan.”