The Meramec Valley R-3 School District will ask voters on April 8 to decide on a $36 million bond issue that Superintendent Carrie Schwierjohn said will help the district construct a new middle school, repurpose and renovate existing buildings and purchase new school buses.
The bond issue, called Proposition M, will require a four-sevenths majority vote to pass.
The official ballot language reads: “Shall the Board of Education of the Meramec Valley R-III School District of Franklin, St. Louis and Jefferson Counties, Pacific, Missouri, issue general obligation bonds in the amount of $36,000,000 for the purposes of acquiring, constructing, renovating, furnishing, and equipping new and existing school buildings, sites and facilities, including the construction of a new middle school with storm shelter and the installation of technology infrastructure, and acquiring school buses? If this proposition is approved, the debt service levy of the school district is estimated to remain unchanged from the current debt service levy of 95 cents per $100 assessed valuation of real and personal property.”
Meramec Valley’s overall tax levy is $4.8162 per $100 assessed valuation.
Schwierjohn said she was unable to say how much longer the debt service levy would be extended if Prop M is approved.
If Prop M is approved, the district will build a new school for seventh and eighth grade students on the same campus as Pacific High School, 425 Indian Warpath Drive, in Pacific.
The Pacific Intermediate School, currently holding fifth and sixth grade students, will be repurposed as alternative learning spaces, Special Education office space and storage.
Fifth and sixth grade students would move to Riverbend Middle School, 2085 Hwy. N, in Pacific, which currently has seventh and eighth graders.
If the bond issue is approved, the district also intends to allocate money for regular building maintenance, bus replacements and HVAC system repairs or replacements, Schwierjohn said.
Meramec Valley would set aside $1 million to replace about a third of the district’s aging buses, she said. The district will also complete flooring, lighting and restroom renovations along with parking lot repairs.
For more information about Prop M, visit mvr3.k12.mo.us/o/mvriii/page/proposition-m.
