Go to where voters are—and then answer their questions.
That’s the idea behind a series of information stops by school board members this month, as a referendum seeking district improvements is on the ballot April 2. The first stop was the corner booth at McDonalds on South Broadway.
Holding a one hour meet and greet starting at 7 a.m., the board made itself available to answer questions related to the April 2 referendum asking for $23 million in bond approval for district building improvements. Present for the school board and administration were Chad Verbeten, Bob Geist, and Denise Hoffstatter, along with superintendent Jeff Koenig.
Should it pass via simple majority, the referendum would authorize the school district to raise capital improvement bonds with a limit set at $23 million, but without requiring the entire approved bond be spent. Approved earlier this school year as Option 2, the bond question would finance four main endeavors: relocation of the district office, creation of a centralized cafeteria space, building a three-station gym and remodeling the current one, as well as providing for fire suppression and soft costs.
With regard to present gym, David Jankoski raised a question.
“We keep getting told of an auditorium and the present gym being renovated. Can you explain what that really means?” he asked.
Koenig replied that the current gym would have the suspended ceiling taken out and sound tiles put in as part of a remodel, with upgrades being deemed more affordable than a new auditorium.
“We’re going to take that suspended ceiling and put sound tiles in,” he said. Also included in the referendum financed plan were audio upgrades, stage changes, and seating made more conducive to theater use.
As to sports, the new gym would have more seating than the present one. Former teacher Jerry Allen, meanwhile, wanted to know about open enrollment.
“How are we on open enrollment?” he asked. Koenig answered that the district had around 100 students open enrolling in, and 100 open enrolling out. Daycare was also a factor in drawing families and students to the area as well.
On that note, school board member Chad Verbeten noted that other school districts saw the referendum as a competition.
“At least one of the neighboring districts has admitted that one of the reasons for their referendum is competition,” he said of neighboring school districts Thorp and Cadott. “If ours passes and theirs doesn’t, we have more space.” he said. “If Phy Ed is important, what does it say if every time something else is happening it takes the gym space?” There was more at stake as well.
“Statistics show that if kids are involved in extracurriculars, “they’re less likely to come visit me,” the trained prosecutor said.
For district employee Jamie Dusick, meanwhile, there was potential misinformation to address. A rumor was making the rounds to the effect that the new gym would only be used for practices, and that three gyms were proposed.
“It’s not three gyms,” Dusick said of the athletic space under consideration. “It’s a three-station gym.” The three-station gym in turn would have room for three separate courts, being able to host larger events like Cloverbelt Conference.
As to alternatives to referendum the district had looked into a FEMA grant for a gym two years prior, but the cost of upgrades meant that the grant wouldn’t cover enough of the cost to make it useful. The FEMA grant was not under consideration at present, the one thing it might have that the current proposal didn’t, was a backup generator. Dave Winkler wanted a cost breakdown for the proposed $23 million ask.
“Do you have a nice breakdown for the $23 million?” He asked Koenig. With four main objectives, the cost breakdown was as follows:
Relocate the district office - $600,000 for 1,500 square feet
Centralize the cafeteria - $1.5 million for 3,00 square feet
Build a three station gym and remodel the current one - $16.3 million
Fire suppression and soft costs - $4.6 million.
With final plans not yet drawn due to cost if the referendum doesn’t pass, community meetings to help design the proposed improvements would be held later this year, if the money question passed first. Still just estimates, the cost of each portion ultimately came down to bidding.
“A lot of it depends on how the estimates come in,” Koenig said of the four part referendum proposal. Outside the gym portion of the proposed changes, comment that relocating the district office would enhance building security was also made.
“People want their kids safe,” one public attendee to the Monday meet and greet said.
Speaking on the cafeteria portion of the project, Koenig said this would see the bird feeder concessions stand moved and kitchen space adjusted, allowing the district to use one central location for lunch service, rather than two, as at present. But there was still the cost hurdle to surmount.
“I think that’s the biggest hurdle you have,” Jankoski said. “The tax assessments people got and increase last year.”
Acknowledging this, Koenig said school taxes were expected to go down next year even if the referendum passes, due to state aid.
“State aid is this big pool,” he said, with distribution made according to district needs. Stanley-Boyd is among districts that are highly aided.
Alongside the tax impact and gym questions were other factors, like moving band equipment.
“I’m just asking, how do you get it there?” former area band director Brian Wirth asked. The provisional answer was much like the present, the band room located just north of the present gym, a proposed three-station gym on the west.
A need for tech ed was voiced as well, with Verbeten chiming in that there were proposals in the legislature to address this.
“There are proposals in the Legislature to fund remodel and expansion to tech ed,” he said. With current enrollment at 320 in the high school, this had affected district offerings, with Koenig saying the district would hold these figures before falling to around 300 in the coming years.
Returning to the question of valuation and the tax ask, Allen chimed in that he thought that having a good school facility raised property values.
“My personal belief is that it enhances the value of your own personal property to have a good educational facility,” he said, with Koenig noting a recent local property listing on McKenzie Street that lists “a 2 min or less walking distance to the Stanley-Boyd School, which boasts a great indoor swimming pool for the community to utilize” as among the home’s perks.
Before it was over things returned to the gym, and past controversy.
“The interesting part of the thing is that with the original high school the controversy was the gym,” Jankoski said of the dawn of the Stanley-Boyd Area Schools District. “The city fathers came up with an extra $500,000 to put it in.” Adjusted for inflation, that extra $500,000 from 1960 would be equivalent to $5,209,746.92 today, per the US Inflation Calculator.
With more events planned throughout the month prior to the April 2 vote, below are some dates and times that residents can find out more before heading to the polls:
Wednesday, March 13
School referendum meet and greet at Debbie’s at 12 p.m.
Friday, March 15
School referendum meet and greet at Kelly Grill at 7 a.m.
Monday, March 18
School referendum community informational meeting in high school library at 6:30 p.m.
Friday, March 22
School referendum meet and greet at Boyd Village Hall at 3 p.m.
Tuesday, March 26
School referendum community informational meeting at Village Haus in Boyd at 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday, March 27
School referendum meet and greet at McDonald’s at 7 a.m.
