The Fox C-6 School District’s first community meeting to share information about the possibility of placing a bond issue on the April ballot was scarcely attended.
About 20 people attended the first meeting on Oct. 14 at Antonia Middle School, and only two of those attendees did not work for the district.
“You always want to get more people,” Superintendent Paul Fregeau said. “We will try different strategies for the next one. We will probably do a phone call the night before to remind people before the next meeting and that type of thing to maybe help with attendance.”
The district is considering asking C-6 residents to vote on a $48 million bond issue on April 7. If approved, the district would likely use revenue from the bond issue to cover the cost of HVAC, roof and asphalt replacement projects and possibly upgrade security measures throughout the district.
Before asking board members to place the bond issue on the ballot, Fregeau said district officials wanted community members to share their opinions about how they would like to see the district spend the potential bond revenue.
The next community meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, at Ridgewood Middle School, 1401 Ridgewood School Road, just west of Arnold.
Another meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, at Fox Middle School, 743 Jeffco Blvd., in Arnold.
The final meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, at Seckman Middle School, 2840 Seckman Road, in Imperial.
After the last meeting on Nov. 19, Fox C-6 will also email a survey to staff, families and community members who have signed up to receive emails from the district. The survey also will be available to fill out on the district’s website, foxc6.org.
Fregeau said he believes more people will attend the next three meetings in the series.
“I want people to understand they don’t have to live in the attendance areas to come (to the school where a meeting is held),” Fregeau said. “Whatever location and date is most convenient for them, we encourage them to attend.”
The potential bond issue would not require a tax increase. However, if approved, the district’s debt service levy would be extended when the bonds are sold.
Fox C-6 has an overall tax levy of $4.1867 per $100 assessed valuation, with the debt service levy accounting for 39.01 cents of that.
Chief operating officer Tracy Schmidt said the Fox district currently owes $47,024,963.40 for general obligation bonds and $6,225,000 for lease agreements. The general obligation bonds are projected to be paid off in March 2041, and the lease agreements are expected to be paid off in March 2028.
Schmidt said if voters approve the sale of $48 million in bonds, Fox C-6’s general obligation bond debt would not be paid off until 2046.
If the potential bond issue is placed on the April ballot, it would require a four-sevenths (57.14 percent) vote for approval.
Jim Osia, 51, of Arnold was one of two community members to attend the meeting at Antonia Middle. He said he recommends C-6 residents attend one of the meetings.
“They (district officials) told us what they want or would like to do, but they also want to know what the community wants,” said Osia, who has a daughter who is a senior at Seckman High School. “You will make a better decision if you hear this firsthand, instead of through social media or second hand.”
The meeting
At the first meeting in the series, Fregeau spoke for about 25 minutes about the potential bond issue and what a bond issue may be used to finance.
“Bonds can only be used for capital improvements,” he said. “We cannot use that money to pay for employees’ salaries or benefits. It is strictly for facility needs.”
Fregeau talked about the district’s various needs for capital improvements and security updates. He also spoke about how a portion of the bond issue revenue could be used to pay off some existing debt to allow Fox C-6 to seek a tax shift from the debt service fund to its operating fund.
“We had experts from a company called Navigate come in and do an assessment of every single building in our district – our roofs, HVAC units, windows, electricity, plumbing and parking lots,” Fregeau said. “They told us we have about $150 million in need for upkeep. We have put a plan together to address these needs a little bit at a time.”
Fregeau said Fox C-6 has about 31 acres of rooftop, and in the last three years, the district has spent just more than $1.8 million to complete two partial roof replacements. He said after those partial replacements, Fox C-6 still had about 30.5 acres of roof that need to be replaced, which would cost an estimated $88 million.
Fregeau also said the district has spent nearly $5 million to repave more than 1.9 million square feet of asphalt parking lots over the last three years. He said the district still needs to spend more than $2 million to replace or repair just more than 796,000 square feet of asphalt.
Fox C-6 has also spent more than $4 million to replace 37 HVAC units over the past three years, Fregeau said, but it still has 300 units that need to be replaced at an estimated cost of more than $42 million.
“We have had a lot of work done, but we still have a lot of work remaining,” he said.
Fregeau said security upgrades over the past three years included building secure entry vestibules at every school with money from a $40 million bond issue voters approve in June 2020, putting in 790 security cameras, 5,086 square feet of security film on strategic windows and access controls on more than 40 exterior doors.
He said some additional security initiatives that could be funded with revenue from another potential bond issue include adding more perimeter control, like fences and gates, exterior door controls and additional security film on windows. He said the district’s security rapid response could be improved by purchasing more security cameras, notifications systems and new classroom doors that automatically shut during a lockdown.
Fregeau also said if the potential $48 million bond issue were approved, the district would likely pay off a $6,225,000 lease-purchase agreement owed for building Antonia Middle and for buying several buses earlier than projected. Those agreements are scheduled to be paid off in 2028.
He said if that debt were retired, the district may be able to ask voters to approve shifting 19 cents from the debt service levy to the operating levy, which would make that 19 cent tax permanent and allow the district to use it for purposes other than capital improvements.
“Think of it as if you had a car payment or house payment, and you pay that off,” Fregeau said.
“You don’t have any additional revenue, but you can redistribute that money for other things.”
Feedback
When Fregeau discussed the district’s roof, HVAC and asphalt replacement needs, those attending the meeting were asked to scan a QR code and rank the three needs in order of importance to them.
On Oct. 14, five people submitted rankings, and three of them ranked HVAC replacement highest, and two said roof replacement was their top priority.
When Fregeau discussed potential security upgrades, the audience was first asked to rank whether they felt additional perimeter control or security rapid response measures were more important. Four people answered the question, and three said rapid response was most important.
The group then ranked adding security cameras; installing more fences and gates; getting lockdown capable classroom doors; purchasing a rapid incident response system; enhancing safety features for exterior doors; or adding more security film to windows in order of importance to them.
Three people listed purchasing a rapid incident response system as the most important.
Osia said he felt capital improvements were needed more than enhancing security.
“You don’t want kids shivering in the winter or sweating in the summer,” he said. “I would have to say the HVAC and the roofs would be a priority, but I would like to see security measures implemented as well.”
Fregeau said he feels it is important for those who attend meetings to see their feedback recorded in real time.
“We are truly getting feedback to help make our decisions moving forward,” he said. “I think when they see it occurring live, they build a level of trust that this is not a preconceived deal.”