Details of the bond issue proposal are being finalized. The board of education agreed Monday to hold a special meeting June 29 to take the first of two steps required by August to place a bond issue on the ballot.
The board heard a final presentation Monday by consultants from SHP Leading Design. The firm was hired last year to help the board explore building options and obtain community input. That process included three community meetings exploring building options this spring.
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District voters will be asked to approve funding for new elementary classrooms for prekindergarten through sixth grades.
Sites of 16 to 22 acres would be needed for a building, consultant Jeff Parker said. The sites of the existing buildings are smaller with Concord school at 14.2 acres, the largest. “To put (a building) on these sites would be very challenging,” Parker said.
After the community meetings, the board in May reached consensus support for constructing two new elementary buildings for students with wings for prekindergrten through grade two and third through sixth grades as opposed to four new buildings. The final configuration of those buildings and whether they would be in one or two locations remains to be to determined.
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The two building options carries an estimated cost of $63.3 million (67 percent district and 33 percent state dollars). That would be a $42.4 million local share for the two buildings leaving some money from a proposed 4.65 mill bond issue for updates to the high school such as air conditioning for some areas, district Superintendent Eric Herman said.
Board President Doug Trostle said all board members are available for conversations about the building project.
The board heard brief comments from three people during the presentation. One resident said she believed the board needed to provide as many specifics about the proposal as possible. Two district teachers commented on their hopes the plan will bring together in one location all students in each grade and related staff and avoid an atmosphere of competition between buildings.
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