On the April 4 ballot, voters will decide whether to support Propositions J and C, which present Jefferson City Public Schools' two-high school plan.
If both issues are approved, a Jefferson City family who currently owns a $150,000 home would pay about $25 more a month or $300 more a year in property taxes.
Proposition J will ask voters if they want to approve a 65-cent tax levy increase to fund a $130 million bond issue to build a second high school and renovate the existing one to make it an equitable facility in terms of square footage, design and safety. Proposition J requires a 57 percent approval vote in order to pass.
Proposition C will ask voters if they want to approve a 45-cent operating levy - 25 cents to cover the operating costs of a second high school and 20 cents to cover needs within the existing school system. Proposition C requires a simple majority vote in order to pass.
New high school needs
The estimated $2,823,353 additional annual costs of operating a second high school can be broken down like this:
Teaching staff, $1,573,275;
Coaching, activity, club and other stipends, $470,000;
Administration and support staff, $120,078;
Transportation, food service and facilities, $660,000.
JCPS CFO/COO Jason Hoffman said the district estimates 27.5 additional teachers would be needed to meet the needs of a second high school. The "half" of a teacher denotes a retired employee currently working at the high school part time.
Jefferson City High School's academy structure would be duplicated at the second high school. Hoffman said the structure would have the same three academies - academic tracks for students who are focusing on college- and career-specific areas - in addition to the traditional academic high school path: the Agriculture, Engineering, Trade and Industrial Academy; the Health, Consumer and Public Services Academy; and the Communication, Arts and Business Academy.
Staffing increases would not necessarily happen all at once because the second high school would not be expected to serve all four grades of students until the 2021-22 school year, Hoffman said.
JCPS Superintendent Larry Linthacum said no timeline has been set for hiring new teachers, should voters approve the second high school.
Faculty or staff leaders of district-sponsored extra-curricular activities also receive budgeted annual stipends for their roles - this is what it means for an activity to be district-sponsored.
Sports are district-sponsored activities, too, and the district estimates a 60 percent increase in coaching staff if there were to be a second high school, Hoffman said.
The presence of non-district-sponsored activities at a second high school would depend on student and faculty interest, he said.
The estimates of a 100 percent duplication of stipend-paid club leaders and the 60 percent coaching increase come from comparisons to the staffing levels of other similarly sized high schools - Camdenton, Battle, Rolla, Belton and Ladue - all from the 2015-16 school year.
"Unless they're currently under-staffed," he said, Linthacum doesn't anticipate the overall coaching staff of any sport or activity will double.
Some sports or activities with four or five staff members might see an increase of two or three, then split the staff evenly between the two high schools.
Linthacum said it would be an opportunity to "go through by department, by club, by activity" to assess efficiency in extra-curricular staffing levels.
"We want to be able to defend and justify" expenses, Linthacum said, while still "raising the bar" of providing opportunities for students.
The category of administration and support staff includes study skills aides, nurses' aides and school resource officers (SROs).
Half of uniformed Jefferson City Police Department SROs' pay comes from JCPD, and the district provides the other half. Linthacum said the current high school has two SROs, and those positions would be split to send one officer to the new high school.
He said district officials would determine in the future if they needed more SROs.
A second high school would require additional nutrition services and custodial staff, too. These staff would be directly employed by the district, as are current cafeteria staff and janitors, Hoffman said - as opposed to being contracted out.
Transportation costs might not change much overall.
Currently, students in grades six through 12 in Callaway County and on Jefferson City's east side bus to school together. On Jefferson City's west side, middle and high school students ride separate bus routes.
While bus routing to reflect the changes has not been done yet, Hoffman expects the district will pair up middle and high school students on the west side. The district provides bus transportation for students who live a mile or more away from school.
"We think by having two (high schools), we'll actually be more efficient in our transportation," he said.
This would save money on routes, but he expects the district would break even on any savings because they will be spending more on athletic and activities travel with a second high school.
"Hopefully some of that will be offset by not having to travel as far to compete," he said.
Current high school needs
The other 20 cents of the operating levy presented by Proposition C would fund continuing needs within the existing K-12 school system of the district: 10 cents for new textbook series and accompanying teacher planning resources; 5 cents for technology improvements; 4 cents for behavioral and mental health support for students; and 1 cent for a preschool room at Callaway Hills Elementary School to serve 15 students.
The nickel for technology improvements is to get the district to its goal of having one electronic device for every middle school student and one device for every two elementary students, Linthacum said. High school students already have one device each.
Unlike with high school students, middle and elementary school students' devices would stay at school, he said.
So far, devices for high school students have been iPads; the district is "still trying to assess effectiveness of cost and lifespan" of different products for students in the future, plus the cost of their upkeep, he said. He added the new devices would be iPads, Chromebooks or something of the some sort.
The 4 cents for behavioral and mental health support would provide a behavioral health setting for students in grades six through 12, plus two teachers, resources, and an administrator or lead coordinator for it - plus another teacher for the setting if demand merits it, Linthacum said.
The location of that setting - designed to give students support for behavioral needs while keeping them in school - may be at a rented location, but current school facilities are being assessed, he said.
The 4 cents of the operating levy increase designated for behavioral and mental health support would also cover the salaries for two full-time, licensed mental health counselors to serve grades K-12.
Linthacum said the increased operating levy would likely stay at the same level over time, if approved. The district has a tax rate hearing each August that is open to the public with a public forum before the Board of Education sets the levy.