The Geary school district has asked for a special election in April to float a bond issue. It passed the resolution Monday evening at the regular board meeting.
The question is whether the district can issue some $5 million in bonds to complete construction.
The rebuild is necessary because the school was so heavily damaged during a March 2025 fire as to be irreparable. Hopes are to house K-12 on the same campus.
A bond is an investment vehicle and for the issuer is similar to a standard big-ticket purchase. The issuer – in this instance the school district – agrees to repay the money in installments. For Oklahoma school districts, the repayments are generally twice per year, to coincide with property tax collections.
The money is generated by the sale of bonds to investors, such as banks, insurance companies and investment firms, who then offer them to their clients.
The question will go to the voters – or patrons – of the Geary School District as part of the April 7 school general and special election.
In the past the school district, under a different superintendent, sought bond issues twice to build an entirely new K-12 campus east of town. Those issues were soundly defeated, but each was enormous compared to the April question.
In order to vote in the April election, residents must be registered by March 13 and must request absentee ballots before March 23. Early voting will be held from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. on April 2-3 at the Blaine County Election Board in the courthouse in Watonga. Regular voting will be from 7 a.m.- 7 p.m. at regular precincts. A bond issue requires a 60% majority in order to pass.
(ABOVE A devastating fire in March 2025 rendered Geary High School irrepairable. The district has asked for a bond to add to the insurance settlement to complete the rebuild