Maine Township High School District 207 is one step closer to placing a $195 million bond referendum question on the November ballot, after district officials decided to put the measure to a vote at the school board’s next meeting.
The Building and Grounds Committee reached a consensus July 30 that the proposed referendum should move forward. If approved, the bond would pay for the majority of a $240.7 million improvement plan and raise property taxes.
“I think now is the right time,” said Superintendent Ken Wallace, who participated in the meeting via speakerphone and who noted that waiting to do the work would lead to increased costs.
During the committee meeting, Wallace and Assistant Superintendent for Finance Mary Kalou answered questions and reviewed information gathered in recent months about the referendum.
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This included the input of a task force of about 40 people invited by the district to tour its buildings, hear background on facility needs and learn survey results before making a bond recommendation. The task force was given the option to recommend no bond, a $135 million bond or the $195 million option, which it strongly favored, according to District 207’s outgoing director of communications David Beery.
Wallace and Kalou also discussed two surveys conducted by the district.
A phone survey of 300 participants selected to mirror the makeup of area voters indicated 58 percent of respondents were likely to vote in favor of the $195 million bond, with 31 percent saying they would probably vote against it, according to incoming director of communications Brett Clark.
An unscientific mail survey showed 48 percent of respondents against the bond and 44 percent in favor of it, according to Clark. Beery said that survey was mailed to 45,000 households and had a return rate of roughly 7.5 percent.
“There is a need here, and I don’t think there’s any doubt about that,” said Wallace, who noted earlier in the meeting that more than $80 million of the planned work is mechanical, electrical and plumbing maintenance.
Plans shared by the district pinpoint 51 projects. Some of the major ones proposed for all three schools include securing front entrances to require personnel approval for entry and creating “flexible learning spaces” in classrooms to accommodate new teaching methods, Wallace has said. Additions are also planned at each individual school. The projects will occur over a three- to five-year period beginning in 2020, officials have said.
Committee member Jin Lee said that based on his interactions in the community, it appears people want the renovations.
“The cost was their concern,” he said.
The tax hike, if approved, would last 20 years, until the bonds are paid off. The cost to taxpayers would be approximately $233 a year for the owner of a home with a median value of $271,000 or $346 per year for the owner of a home with a median value of $380,000, the district has said. Assuming an interest rate of 4.54 percent, the total amount the district will be required to pay back on a $195 million bond issue will be $300.1 million, according to the district.
The district plans to use $45.7 million in reserves to cover the remainder of the project cost, officials have said.
The $135 million bond option considered by the task force would have been supplemented by about $35 million in district reserves, and it would have significantly reduced classroom renovations, as well as furniture and technology upgrades, according to Beery.
The district recently held several presentations and open houses for the general public about the $240.7 million improvement plan, and Wallace has spoken to parent-teacher organizations and service clubs in the community, Beery said.
Officials received mixed feedback from residents at meetings May 1 and May 3 about Maine South and Maine East.
“We’re letting the community, as a whole, vote on it,” committee member Paula Besler said of the proposed referendum.
Should the $195 million bond be approved for ballot placement, Clark said the district intends to launch an informational campaign leading up to the election Nov. 6. It will include a website, information sessions at district buildings, mailers and videos.
Lee said that residents who’ve visited the district’s schools tend to be more understanding and supportive of its needs, although committee member Teri Collins offered a word of caution.
“We’re never going to be able to solve uninformed voters,” she said.