There wasn't much activity at the Blair Oaks R-2 district's Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, but that's not to say the district doesn't have big events on the horizon.
A proposed new high school is close in proximity and chronology - across Falcon Lane from Blair Oaks Middle School and probably on the April 2019 ballot.
The board decided last month not to pursue a bond issue this year to fund a new high school, opting to delay that prospect until April 2019.
The district's $12.5 million bonding capacity in 2018 simply was not enough to match the estimated $14 million cost of the first phase of a proposed two-phase high school construction.
Blair Oaks' bonding capacity in April 2019 is projected to be $14 million.
Superintendent Jim Jones said he has "95 percent certainty" the district will ask for a $14 million bond issue on the ballot in 2019 - which likely would mean asking for a 30-cent increase to the district's debt service tax levy.
The district has reached out to local legislators about the prospects of the state changing its laws to expand districts' bonding capacities, which would more easily enable school districts such as Blair Oaks with limited tax bases to raise money for projects like new buildings.
Jones said he and board members John Weber and Greg Russell met Jan. 18 with state Rep. Mike Bernskoetter and state Sen. Mike Kehoe to talk about bonding capacity.
"They were both very receptive to our perspective on the 15 percent limit," Jones said. "They were of the opinion that a change would not be easy but did not consider it impossible."
He said after the board meeting that a change from 15 to 20 percent would be sufficient.
Raising the state's bonding capacity limit would require a constitutional amendment, though, so it's not something the district can count on happening before its own vote on a new high school, Jones said.
"The one thing we're going to be able to do is to do a tremendous amount more of legwork with regards to the design and the efficient use of resources. We're going to be able to bring a lot more people into the design process in greater detail," he said of collaborating more with teachers, staff, students and the community.