HUTCHINSON, Kan. — There is a special USD 308 Board of Education meeting on Monday, May 13 at 6:00 p.m. for a presentation by the Facility Steering Committee.
The meeting will be held at Midtown at 200 E. Sherman.
The Facility Steering Committee has been meeting for over a year and there have been a series of public meetings to inform about possible options for a potential bond issue in the district.
The committee found two key factors that they believe would be helpful for USD 308 which are the need to streamline and strengthen the early childhood education process and the need to streamline and strengthen middle school transitions and environment. The proposed solution is to create a dedicated early education center in the district and one dedicated location for a middle school. The middle school would include grades 6-8. The committee found that one early childhood education center will provide a seamless transition to kindergarten and barriers to childhood development that could be spotted early.
A few positive factors to creating a 6-8 middle school the committee found is more space for STEM, computer and music classrooms in the elementary schools. Currently, sixth graders are a part of the elementary schools in Hutchinson and there are two separate buildings for seventh and eighth grade. The committee said it would also reduce maintenance cost to have one middle school building and more opportunities for stronger relationships between staff and students.
The mill rate in the Hutchinson school district for Bond and Interest is set at 10.380. Assistant Superintendent of Finance Sheila Meggers said to generate $80 million dollars for a bond issue, the district would need to ask for more four mills in taxes on an election ballot. A mill rate of 1 means you pay $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of your property's assessed value. Meggers told Hutch Post that the district owes 27 million dollars owed in previous bonds.
In addition to the middle school and Pre-K projects, a portion of a potential larger bond issue could also go towards the following elementary school projects in USD 308:
Faris: Remodel- Breakout Rooms - Remodel Restroom - HVAC Updates - Security Upgrades
Graber: Additions - Two Classrooms - Storm Shelter - Gym Addition Remodel - Breakout Rooms - Remodel Restroom - HVAC Upgrades - Security Upgrades
Allen: Additions - Special Education and Art/Flex - Storm Shelter - Gym Addition Remodel - Restroom Remodel - HVAC Upgrades - Security Upgrades - Playground Upgrade
Wiley: Additions: - Music and Art/Flex - Storm Shelter - Gym Addition Remodel - Restrooms Remodel - HVAC Upgrades - Security Upgrades - Site Development
Morgan: Additions - Art Classroom - Shelter - Special Education Classrooms Remodel - Kitchen/Serving Remodel - Restrooms Remodel - HVAC Upgrades - Security Upgrades
Lincoln-McCandless: Additions - Flex/Art Classroom - Shelter - Breakout and Restroom Addition Remodel - Restroom Remodel - HVAC Upgrades - Security Upgrades - Roof Replacement
The middle school would be about $78.5 million if built new and the Pre-K center would be about $17.6 million.
The options presented to the board will be for bond issues between $60 million and $120 million depending on how much of the work they decide to put in front of the voters.
Johnson said the board can put out a special bond election in September, put the ballot question on the federal and national election ballot in November or put out a special bond election next Spring.
In order to have a bond vote this fall, the Board needs to make decisions on what the scope of that proposal would be. This meeting can help them in that process.
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