Tuesday, April 7, is the vote for the Geary Public School bond issue. The question is whether the district may sell $5 million in bonds to bridge the gap between the money from an insurance settlement for the catastrophic fire at the high school a year ago and the amount needed to construct an all-inclusive campus to house the elementary students as well as the junior and senior high school. The campus would be at the site of the high school.
Bonds work something like a consumer loan for a large purchase such as an automobile. The district receives the money lump sum and pays it back over 10 years as part of its property tax collections.
Investors such as banks, stock companies and investment firms purchase the bonds and offer them to their clients as a stable, long-term investment with income tax advantages.
Superintendent Sean Buchanan said during a community meeting roughly half the district’s 260 children are housed in a building – the elementary school – that is not up to code. One of the biggest issues is that some of the classrooms are downstairs with no elevator access, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
“When we found out that we could possibly house them in one campus, we thought that was something to look at,” Buchanan said.
The elementary school is a 1960s era building, and when the state fire marshal’s office visited Geary after the fire at the high school, inspectors looked at the other buildings. For a time, the elementary was grandfathered in, but that status was eliminated by the fire marshal in 2018. The cost to renovate the elementary school and bring it up to today’s standards would be more than the cost to rebuild the high school.
“We are trying to be as economical as possible,” Buchanan said. “When we put it all together, we could have a new school that’s safe for everyone. And because most of it is cash, the finance charges are kept to a minimum.”
The cost of the new allinclusive campus build is about $14 million. The insurance will pay some $11 million. On top of that, there are architectural fees; an architect is required by state statute. The remainder of the difference is interest charged.
The cost to property owners is about 13.6% additionally on the tax bills, or $13.62 per hundred dollars. For instance, if a property owner pays $300 in property taxes now, the new amount would be about $340.
School board member Afton Jameson pointed out that if the schools in Geary cease to operate and the students are absorbed by other schools, the property owners will have that school district’s tax level attached to their property.
Comparing apples to apples, Geary’s millage, should the bond pass, will adjust to 72 mils on the Blaine County side and slightly lower on the Canadian County side.
Calumet’s millage is 83; Watonga is 103: Hinton is 103 and Hydro is 105.
Consolidation of the campuses could make the students safer because they will no longer have to cross the road to the library or cafeteria and the playground would be within the walls of the schools, on a courtyard. The new playground equipment at the elementary school could be reinstalled at the new site. That equipment was purchased with COVID dollars.
Buchanan has asked that anyone with questions about the bond election contact him directly to have their questions answered.
New construction would, Buchanan said, lower the school’s consumption of electricity, water and natural gas, which in turn would place less of a burden on the town’s grid as well as lower the cost of heating and cooling the school.
That election will take place April 7, with early voting 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Thursday and Friday April 2-3 at the Blaine County Election Board, in the basement of the county courthouse on Weigle Avenue in Watonga.
Regular voting on April 7 will be at your designated polling location from 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
A bond issue requires a supermajority of 60% for passage.
If passed, the money should start flowing by the end of May and construction could be completed in 12-18 months.
There is no contingency to rebuild just the high school if the bond fails, Buchanan said. “We (the school board) would come back to the community to see what they want us to do. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, to get a new school for $5 million. But we ( the board) work for you.” he said.