Edmond voters asked to OK $36.1 million bond
ElectionVoters to decide $36.1 million proposal Tuesday

BY JESSE OLIVAREZ Comments 0
Published: November 4, 2009

EDMOND — The proposed $36.1 million bond issue going before Edmond voters Tuesday would help the district deal with continuing population growth, school officials said.

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Bond issue

Projects and costs

A $36.1 million bond issue will be decided Tuesday by Edmond School District voters. The measure must receive a 60 percent approval rating or higher to pass. Here is a list of the projects the bond will cover. All costs are estimates.

PROPOSITION 1: $35.3 million

$6.6 million — new classrooms, lecture rooms and other improvements at Memorial High School

$5.8 million — 9 classroom addition to Cross Timbers Elementary

$5 million — 12 classroom addition to West Field Elementary

$3.8 million — 6 classroom addition at Will Rogers Elementary

$2.6 million — purchase new computers and related technology

$2.5 million — 6 classroom addition at Centennial Elementary

$2 million — 3 classroom addition and cafeteria expansion at Ida Freeman Elementary

$1.6 million — 3 classroom addition, renovating certain rest rooms and expanding the kitchen at Clegern Elementary

$1.5 million — improvements to the existing baseball and softball facilities at Cimarron, Sequoyah and Summit middle schools

$1.4 million — athletic and fine arts equipment for all high schools and middle schools, new band uniforms for Edmond Santa Fe High School, new library/media center books and textbooks

$970,000 — construction of a new multipurpose room at the District Administrative Center

$900,000 — roofing repairs/replacement at: Orvis Risner, District Administrative Center, Edmond North and Edmond Memorial high schools

$400,000 — purchase and install new heating and air conditioning equipment at Washington Irving and Cross Timbers elementary schools

$200,000 — new security cameras and security door upgrades at: Angie Debo, Chisholm, Charles Haskell, John Ross, Northern Hills and Washington Irving elementary schools.

PROPOSITION 2: $800,000

$800,000 — purchase new large school buses, small school buses and utility vehicles.

Source: Edmond Public Schools

The district currently has 20,784 students, 476 more than last year. District officials say they expect to have 23,000 students within the next few years.

Approval of the bond issue would not increase property taxes because other bonds will be retired, officials said.

Superintendent David Goin said the proposed projects would take care of real needs in district.

"Our board and staff put a great deal of time and thought into identifying projects that will address needs and provide benefits for students,” he said.

About $27.3 million would go toward the construction of new classrooms and renovation work at eight schools, officials said.

The new classrooms would lessen the strain on classroom space and allow expansion of the district’s early childhood programs, Goin said.

The single largest project is a $6.6 million renovation of Memorial High School. Goin said the school was built in the 1960s. While additions have been built, the main building has not received much attention over the years, he said.

If the bond passes, the school would receive new classrooms, hallways, lecture rooms, an art room and a consumer and family sciences room, Goin said.

The rest of the bond funds would provide a variety of things, including computers, buses, textbooks, athletic and fine arts equipment and security upgrades.

Bond elections in Edmond usually are held in December, but the upcoming vote on Oklahoma City’s MAPS 3 prompted district officials to move the election date up a month to avoid confusion, Goin said.

The Edmond Area Chamber of Commerce is endorsing passage of the school bond issue.

Chamber President Ken Moore, in a statement, cited the school district’s success as a reason for the city’s good quality of life.