The Grandview R-2 School District will ask voters April 2 to approve a $2.75 million bond issue to fund construction of a high school addition and to update buildings throughout the rural Hillsboro campus. The measure, called Proposition Safe Schools, requires a four-sevenths (57.14 percent) majority for passage.
Academic director Allen Davis said passage of the measure would enable the district to build a 7,200-square-foot addition to the north side of the high school, and to make upgrades and modifications to the middle and elementary schools.
“Right now, high school students have to go to the middle school for vocational classes,” Davis said. “It’s 50 to 60 kids at a time walking back and forth, which is not ideal in terms of security. We have a lot of things in that room – welding, farming, plants, fish, robotics. We need more space.”
At the same time, students at the middle school, which doesn’t have a cafeteria, must travel to the elementary school to eat lunch.
“We lose a lot of instructional time, and we end up transporting all those kids by bus when the weather is bad,” Davis said. “And, to get all the K-8 students through the lunch line in time, we have kids eating at 10:30 a.m.
“So, it costs us money, it costs us time, and it costs us in safety.”
Plans call for a three-classroom addition to the science wing of the high school: one room to accommodate vocational classes, one for family and consumer science and the third for special education. The current vocational education room at the middle school would be converted to a room for serving middle school lunches.
“This would give us a better chance of encouraging high school kids toward vocational classes,” Davis said. “And it would make it so we can serve the younger kids in a reasonable time frame.”
The remaining proceeds from the bonds would pay for other districtwide improvements.
“We’re looking at a much-needed upgrade to the electrical system at the elementary school,” Davis said. “At the middle school, we need to replace some asbestos tiles, install AC (air conditioning) in the gym, do some tuckpointing on the building. We’ll be facing structural issues if we don’t. We also hope to get some new playground equipment.”
Passage of the bond issue would not increase the district’s tax levy, which is $4.677 per $100 assessed valuation. However, it would extend when the district’s debt would be paid off, from 2027 to 2032, school officials said.
“It’s not an increase from what people are paying now; they would just be paying it for a longer time,” Davis said. “Schools have to constantly keep upgrading their facilities, adding technology, maintaining what they have.
“For homeowners in the district, it’s important, because the better the school is, the more valuable the land becomes. And the better the school is, the better it is for these kids.”
Davis said, if the issue passes, the district plans to start improvements right away.
“It’s always a push, getting a contractor in and setting a firm date for completion,” he said. “But we would want to start as soon as possible, with the hope of getting in before the start of the (2019-2020) school year.”