By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board will get its first look Monday at a school bond proposal created by the district’s Vision Teams.
Members of the community, parents, teachers and administrators all gave input to build the $78.5 million bond proposal, which will be presented to the board at 6:30 p.m. at Rockwell Administrative Center.
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.
Members from the Vision Team will be at the school board meeting Monday to present the proposal and answer questions.
Voters rejected a $94 million bond issue in June 2016. Click here to read more.
The board will hear a presentation on the plan Monday, but is not set to vote on the issue. For anyone who would like to speak to the board on this or any other topic, there is an audience participation period for the public at 6:30 p.m. right after the approval of the agenda.
Speakers are typically limited to three minutes each. Find the public forum rules by clicking here.
The school board would have to approve any bond proposal before it could go on the ballot. When and what type of election would be used to pose the bond question is also in the hands of the school board.
The bond proposal could go to voters as soon as the November election, which would save the district the cost of mounting a special election, but a timeline for a vote has not yet been set.
To vote in a Hays Post non-scientific poll on the bond issue, click here.
The board also is set to vote on a handbook revisions. Among the revisions is a new rule that would require middle school students to keep cell phones locked in their lockers during school hours.
Other items include the district’s crisis management plan, a Hays High School concrete bid and vote to move $330,000 from the general fund to the district’s contingency fund.
The district has about $330,000 in its contingency fund now, but auditors recommend that a district of Hays’ size have at least $4.2 million in its reserve.