By Lance Bickle
President, USD 489 School Board
By John Thissen
USD 489 Superintendent (Incoming)
Dear USD 489 community,
On June 7, USD 489 voters turned down a proposed $94 million bond that would have addressed critical safety, security and maintenance needs in our district’s facilities.
While we were hoping for a different outcome, we respect the process and thank each of the 4,000 voters for taking the time to make their voices be heard. This signals to us that the Hays community takes pride in its education system, and is committed to schools that provide quality outcomes in the most efficient manner possible.
We are also incredibly grateful to all of the volunteer members of the Fund Our Future First Steering Committee and the Facility Needs Committee, who spent countless hours planning, organizing, going door-to-door and holding meetings, all to educate the public on the bond issue.
Had just 251 of the “No” votes been “Yes” the bond would have passed. Based on early feedback, we believe the bond failed for several reasons. First, some feel that the bond was simply too large – that $94 million was too much of a burden to place on our small tax base, regardless of needs. The other thing we’ve also heard is that the board didn’t thoroughly explore alternative options, or first consider various spending decisions in other areas.
Both John and I, as well as the entire board, are relatively new to the administration – no one has been serving longer than three years. We can’t change any maintenance or expansion decisions that may have been made years or decades ago by previous administrations but in fairness to those administrations, each was dealing with their own challenges of the day. With that being said, the past is the past, and we need to all work together and focus on the future.
This board has worked very hard to improve transparency in its dealings, while finding remedies for complex issues. We encouraged and received great staff and community participation in our search for a superintendent. We worked closely with building principals and stakeholders in creating a comprehensive maintenance plan that addresses future buildings and transportation needs. For that plan to work, we need to ‘reset the clock’ and tackle the existing deferred maintenance backlog, which today approaches $19 million. We give you the community, our word, that this administration will do what we say and we expect to be held accountable for our decisions made on your behalf.
Regarding the size of the bond, we need your input as to the kinds of schools our community wants going forward. In the coming weeks, we will be surveying the community with several alternatives as to how a future bond issue could possibly look.
We are looking for honest, thoughtful participation from the entire community. We ask that you please assist us in this effort by taking this survey, which we will publicize soon.
We want to hear from you.
The critical needs raised in the bond campaign have not gone away. We are hopeful that the USD 489 board, administrators, teachers, parents and community can all work together in making our schools the safe, secure, accessible and modern learning environments our students and staff deserve. Thank you.