Goddard Public Schools is hoping to move forward with maintenance projects that were put on hold in recent years due to cuts in state funding.
The district’s Board of Education approved a $52 million bond resolution on Monday night.
The new bond would pay for 90 projects across all 12 Goddard schools.
The district’s Community Relations Director, Dane Baxa, says much of the work involves renovating buildings, parking lots and updating heating and air conditioning units.
He says storm shelters will be added to nine schools, but they won’t look the same in each building.
"It could be classrooms, science facilities...[or] a multi-purpose room," Baxa says. "But really, that planning committee spent a lot of time in making sure that when we do create a storm shelter for every student, that those storm shelters could be used throughout the entire day. "
Currently, only three of the district’s schools have storm shelters.
The proposed mill levy would mean a tax increase of about $22.00 a year, per $100,000 of property value.
Baxa says the projects are designed to extend the life of the buildings. He says two of the districts oldest schools, Oak Street Elementary and Discovery Intermediate, were built in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
The last time the district put a bond resolution before voters was in 2007 to provide funding for three new schools.
"This will be the first time our community will have a bond resolution that, you know, we’re not building a new school," Baxa says. "It’s really focused on that storm shelter, safety and deferred maintenance projects.
A steering committee of about 50 community members, board members, parents and staff worked on the bond proposal for six months.
Goddard’s bond resolution now goes to the State Board of Education for review and approval.
If the state signs off on the proposal, the District is planning to put the bond issue before voters on April 25.
Goddard Public Schools has about 5700 students, and has had 33 years of growth in the district.
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