KINGDOM CITY - North Callaway R-I Schools' leaders are hoping district patrons will say "yes" to Proposition K.I.D.S. - its $6 million bond initiative on the Nov. 4 ballot.
The K.I.D.S. (Keep Improving District Schools) Committee has worked to promote the issue over the past two months through a series of community meetings throughout the district.
Superintendent Bryan Thomsen said the two most common questions heard at those information sessions were how the board decided on what projects to include and how the district plans to pay for the bonds without increasing the district's tax levy.
North Callaway administrators, board members and K.I.D.S. Committee members have been emphasizing that second issue - that Proposition K.I.D.S. is intended as a no-tax-increase bond issue - as a main selling point. The money to make the improvements will be borrowed from the existing $0.6622 debt-service tax.
What that means, Thomsen told the Fulton Sun Thursday, is that instead of potentially dropping the next time the district's debt-service tax is re-evaluated (a yearly occurrance), it would hold steady.
"This allows us to keep the debt service at 66 cents for a longer period of time," Thomsen said.
Projects included in the proposed bond are:
•Construction of a new agri-science building;
•Renovation of existing science classrooms at the high school;
•Construction of a new bus barn/maintenance building;
•Construction of an all-weather outdoor track;
•Acquire land for future expansion;
•Upgrade technology throughout the district;
•Remove asbestos at the high school and Auxvasse;
•Replace old ceiling tiles and grid throughout the district; and
•Upgrade lighting throughout the district.
Thomsen said the board went through a long, intensive process in developing that list.
"They started way back with the facilities report that was done years and years ago, and then a couple years ago they started a strategic planning committee and sent out surveys and eventually used that to develop a new strategic plan," he said. "They did a really good job of using all the information they could find to pick projects that would best benefit the most students."
When asked which of the bond projects would have the biggest impact on students, Thomsen identified the agri-science building and technology upgrades as his top priorities.
He said goals for technology upgrades include ensuring all students have adequate access to technology, the ability to keep pace with evolving technology, reliable Internet and information services and upgrading the district network.
In addition to providing more up-to-date lab space, Thomsen said the agri-science building will fit nicely with integrating curriculum with STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) Education goals of incorporating those two fields. Even better, he said, the new classroom space will allow the school to get students out of the trailers the district has utilized for years.
Proposition K.I.D.S. must receive four-sevenths of the vote in order to pass, and Thomsen said he is hoping the district has done a good job of convincing patrons of the necessity of making that happen.
"I think it's really important because of the impact it's going to have on our students," Thomsen said. "There are so many positive things that will help our kids be better-prepared for college, for the work force, for whatever they plan to do after graduation."
Patrons can view architectural renderings of all of the bond projects on the district website at nc.k12.mo.us.