By CRISTINA JANNEY

Hays Post

Superintendent John Thissen met with a small group of teachers and parents at O’Loughlin Elementary School Wednesday night to talk about the proposed $78.5 million bond issues that will go to voters Nov. 7.

This is one of about 40 meetings with the public Thissen has planned in coming months. Thissen began his talk by explaining the details of proposed bond. Details on the bond’s scope can be found on the district’s website at http://www.usd489.com/.

He said his goal is informational and to get to people out to vote no matter which side of the bond they are on.

Erin Hernandez, parent and a district part-time staff member, asked Thissen why a previous $94 million bond that went to a vote in June 2016 did not pass.

Research the district did after the previous bond’s failure indicated voters did not support the amount of the bond, voters had trust issues with the board and parents did not vote in the election.

“If we could get 10,000 to 15,000 people to vote, that would be fantastic,” Thissen said. “We would know what the community thinks. If only 2,000 to 3,000 people vote, we only know what a select group wants.”

The district is trying to facilitate voter registration by making voter registration forms available in the offices of all its buildings. The deadline to register to vote in the November election is Oct. 17, and advance voting is scheduled to begin Oct. 18.

Two new elementary schools would be built if the bond issues passes, and O’Loughlin Elementary School would be renovated to accommodate the Westside program, Early Childhood Center and the Learning Center.

Hernandez, who has children at O’Loughlin, asked if the families whose children would be displaced by the closing of Lincoln and repurposing of O’Loughlin would have the first pick of which new school they wished their children to attend.

Thissen said this was likely.

A significant goal of the bond is to right-size classrooms. Roosevelt’s classrooms are about 800 square feet compared to about 640 square feet at Wilson. Thissen said the extra room would allow for new techniques for teaching, including large- and small-group teaching and small-group MTSS instruction.

The bond will include new furniture, which Thissen said will make a great deal of difference in the flexibility the teachers would have in staging their classrooms for different teaching methods.

Assistant superintendent Shanna Dinkel said teachers even at the high school listed right-sized classrooms as their top priority even over HVAC systems.

“They know what teaching needs to look like to prepare students for 21st Century learning,” she said. “The teachers feel so confined, especially at that high school. It was one of their top priorities to prepare students in the classroom for what they know they need.”

Hernandez also asked what would happen if the bond did not pass.

Thissen said the need would still remain, and the district would have to try for another bond. It likely be a lower amount or a shorter repayment period. The proposed bond would be paid back over 30 years. Renovations and additions at Hays Middle School and Hays High School would likely be eliminated if another bond vote was required.

The 30-year bond has advantages over several smaller bonds. A new law enacted this year limits the amount of bond debt that can be issued by school districts across the state. This means USD 489 might have to wait in line behind other districts on bond projects. The district is currently exempt because it has not passed a bond issue in 25 years.

Interest rates are currently favorable and may not be at a later date, and the district would be able to realize all its needs now instead of postponing projects, Thissen said.

Another attendee asked what the timeline for the bond would be once it passes.

The architects would need at least six months to develop detailed plans for the new buildings and renovations. A new elementary school could be built within about a year after the plans are completed. The entire project is estimated to take two and half to three years with projects being completed throughout that time.

Teachers and principals already have been working on details of what they think will be the most efficient uses of their new space.

“We have one time in 40 years to make changes,” Thissen said. “We need to focus. We need to make this as right as possible.”

The district plans a community-wide bond Q&A at 7 p.m. Sept. 12 in the Lincoln Elementary School gymnasium.