NEW BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- New Bloomfield voters have approved a $2 million no-tax increase bond issue for the city's school district, with more than 81 percent voting in favor.
District's superintendent David Trame said Tuesday's high percentage of yes votes shows the community's confidence in the school district.
"I think that shows the district has the trust of the community to use it (the money) wisely," Tramel said Tuesday night.
Brenda Maddox, president of the New Bloomfield Proposition KIDS (Keep Improving District Schools) election committee, said she wanted to thank the voters and community for their support on this project.
"We were pretty ecstatic," Maddox said. "We are going to get these much needed repairs."
The facility repairs outlined in the bond issue include major parking lot repairs and new heating and cooling systems in the district. Maddox said both of those repair items affect students. Having functioning HVAC units, she said, especially impacts the learning environment for students. They need to feel comfortable at school to learn best, she added.
Now that the school district has the
community's OK to move forward, Tramel said the school board will select an architect to get the project started. With a straightforward project, he said the district will hire an architect rather than a project manager.
The district received estimates for the work last summer, giving Tramel a "ballpark idea" of costs. He previously told the school board that projected costs for repairing parking lots district-wide are between $850,000 and $950,000 and estimated costs for replacing heating and cooling units is between $750,000 and $850,000.
The money, which the bond issue's passage allows the district to borrow, will mainly go toward the parking lot repairs and HVAC replacement. However, if funds are left over after those two repairs are complete, the bond issue could also fund additional repairs in the district.
The election result did not come as a surprise to the election committee who Maddox said received mostly positive feedback leading up to election day. Tramel said the committee did a good job of getting information regarding facility repairs and the bond issue out to the community before election day. He mentioned Maddox by name, saying she knew a lot of people in the community and had their trust. She had also experienced problems with the district's facilities first hand, he added.
"She was the perfect person to lead this," Tramel said of Maddox.
Maddox is a graduate of the district and she has lived in the community all her life. Her husband and two children also attended New Bloomfield schools. She works as a paraprofessional in the district. During this past winter, Maddox said she and other teachers had to use heaters to heat their classrooms. After an architect is chosen to lead the project, Tramel said work will begin this summer.
"Folks will be ready to start as soon as school is out," Tramel said.