By Cristina Janney
Hays Post 
The Hays school board unanimously voted to send a $78.5 million bond issue to voters at its meeting Monday night.
The school board members asked many questions about the bond but ultimately decided to place the issue on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.
The bond issue seeks to build two new elementary schools, and renovate Roosevelt Elementary School, the high school and middle school. O’Loughlin Elementary School would be renovated to accommodate the Westside Program, Learning Center and Early Childhood Connections. A new auditorium would be part of the high school renovation. For a more detailed list of the bond improvements, click here.
The bond would be paid over 30 years, with an owner of a $150,000 home paying $16.43 per month.
Paul Adams, board member, asked if all the space that was being added or renovated was going to be used for education.
Amy Foster, associate for DLR, the district’s architectural firm, said the project would add a gym at the middle school, but the space would be used for PE classes. As many as 130 students are using the current gym at the school. If there is another event in the gym, there is no place to put those students.
A performing arts auditorium will also be built at the high school. Foster said the space could not only be used for performing arts classes, but guest lectures for classes or community events. All the schools will be equipped with accessible storm shelters once the bond is completed, but all those spaces will be used during the school day for other educational purposes.
Adams asked if furniture and technology was included in the bond price. The DLR team said all furnishings and fees for the architectural and engineering firm are included in the $78.5 million.
The district has chosen to hire a construction manager at-risk, Nabholz Construction. Once the project goes out for bid, the school district is given a guaranteed maximum price. If any savings are found during the project, that money goes back to the school district, Ron Ferris of Nabholz explained to the board.
Ferris said if the bond passes, his company would meet with local subcontractors, vendors and suppliers, and the company tires to develop bids that keep as much of the work within the local community as possible.
“The dollars that are spent in Hays keep being spent in Hays over and over,” he said.
Adams praised the teams that worked on the bond issue for their consideration of how the education process has changed. One of the focuses for work at all schools has been to right-size classrooms.
Valerie Wente, parent and community Vision Team member, said elementary teachers want to be able to get down on the floor and work with groups of students on science and social studies projects, but there is no room. Some projects require assistance from paras and parents, but there isn’t enough space to get everyone in the classrooms.
Adams said, “I just returned from a conference in Boston where teachers across the country were learning about how the physical plant affects learning. I wish my children would have been able to benefit from this.”
Board president Lance Bickle said he struggled with his decision on bond issue, but he was willing allow the community to decide on the bond.
“No matter what we do with the bond, how big or small. We are not going to be able to fix everything,” he said. Some will agree with it and some won’t. There is no perfect plan, and there are plenty of items to address. No matter what proposal we have, not all of us are going to agree, not the community, staff or the board.”
Bickle also asked about how many sections would be available for each grade in the elementary schools.
There would be 12 sections for grades second-fifth and 13 sections for kindergarten and first grade. Adding classrooms would move the district closer to smaller class sizes.
However, Josh Waddell, board member, criticized the district for not having a funding plan for additional teachers to staff additional elementary class sections.
Superintendent John Thissen assured Waddell the district would develop a plan to reach that goal. He said staff could be added slowly over time as not to overwhelm the budget.
Foster of DLR noted going from four elementary schools to three is estimated to save the district $300,000 per year for a total savings of $9 million over the life of the bond. Some of that savings could be used for teacher salaries.
The bond financing includes a 2 mill reduction in the capital outlay fund in order to reduce the burden on taxpayers. Bickle asked about how this affects the district’s ability to maintain its buildings.
Thissen said the renovation and construction of new buildings would significantly reduce the list of projects the district has slated to accomplish with its capital outlay funds and further reduce needs going into the future.
Bickle also expressed concerns about the length of the bond.
Dustin Avey of PiperJaffray, which is handling the financial aspects of the bond, said the 30-year bond has some advantages compared to more frequent, smaller bonds. The longer bond would take advantage of low interest rates at this time. The bond could be paid off early, but interest rates could increase if another bond was issued at a later date.
The state has also changed the law on bond debt. A new law passed this spring limits the amount of bond debt that can be issued state-wide in a given year. USD 489 is exempt from this law because it hasn’t passed a bond issue in the last 25 years. Its ability to issue bond debt could be restricted in the future.
Avey also said a 30-year bond spreads the cost of bond to future residents whose children will benefit from the school improvements.
Mandy Fox, board member, wanted to make sure teachers felt they had an opportunity to give input on the bond. A $94 million bond failed to pass in 2016 and Fox said she thought teachers felt they did not get to give input in the development of that bond.
Amy Waginger, O’Loughlin teacher, and Krista Brooks, reading teacher, both said they thought the district-wide in service that was conducted in creating this bond allowed teachers to voice their opinions.
Board members asked John Fuller, chief marketing officer for DLR, if a general election or special election would be better for the bond issue.
Fuller said special elections tend to be most successful for bond issues, but a general election is a close second. He said it might be more advisable to go forward now because interest rates and building costs could go up by the time the district could mount a special election in early 2018. The district will not have to pay to have a bond question on a general election ballot, but it would have to pay for a special election.