Voters in one Panhandle school district go to the polls next week to decide a school renovation bond, while at least one other will have a bond issue on the November ballot.
Bayard patrons are voting Tuesday on a $3 million bond issue to improve both the elementary and high school buildings, while the Scottsbluff School Board Monday evening voted to send a $14 million bond issue to renovate Bluffs Middle School to a November vote.
Bayard Superintendent Alan Gross says the bond issue would replace temporary modular units used for the past quarter-century with 4 rooms to house kindergarten classes, special needs students and a computer lab.
At Bayard High School, the $3-million dollar bond issue would build a new gymnasium to replace seen as too small and insufficient to justify renovation.
The Bayard bond issue would be another $500,000 more if not for a gift from the trust fund of a district patron. As a result, the owner of a $50,000 home would see a property tax hike of $87
Scottsbluff school district voters last year crushed a larger $16-million dollar proposal to replace Bluffs Middle School, with many opponents citing a desire to save and upgrade the 8 decade-old facility.
Board president Bob Kinsey says the new $14-million dollar proposal is what the community said it wanted: a renovation that address infrastructure deficiencies in a way that incorporates basic environmentally-conscious LEED energy-saving standards without incorporating any "frills."
Kinsey says the proposal would tear down the seldom-used Middle School Auditorium and replace it with a multi-functional auditorium and gymnasium, while shifting some events to what he calls the "state of the art" high school auditorium just a short distance away.
Architect Bill Cramer of Schemmer and Associates believes the district has enough "swing space" to do the renovation without closing the school, relying heavily on nights, weekends, and vacations.
The Scottsbluff school bond would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $94 a year.
