Oxford Community Schools is hoping the second time is the charm when district voters go to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 3 to decide the fate of two bond proposals, totaling $33.37 million.
‘The proposals are essential to maintaining our facilities in good condition over the next decade,? said Tim Loock, assistant superintendent of business and operations.
Proposal 1
Dubbed Proposal 1, the first bond proposal for $32.735 million covers facility repairs, remodeling and upgrades; energy efficiency improvements; new technology; security enhancements; and construction of additional classrooms.
It encompasses all five elementary schools, the middle and high schools, and the district’s bus garage.
According to Loock, $13.15 million (or 39.87 percent) of the bond proposal deals with repairs, replacements and remodeling related to existing facilities and infrastructure.
‘If Proposal 1 passes, it will help reduce operational costs for the school district,? said Superintendent Dr. William Skilling.
Instead of using money from the operational budget, Skilling explained the district will be able to use bond money for needed repairs to mechanical and electrical systems, and infrastructure; replacement of boilers, roofs, window frames and windows, entrance door frames, doors and windows; and technology upgrades and replacements.
Skilling indicated it’s ‘critical? to use bond money as opposed to operations money because state funding to the district is expected to decrease for ‘at least the next two or three years,? while expenditures increase.
‘Anything we can do to reduce operational costs will be extremely helpful in maintaining and improving on the current quality of education we offer,? he said.
Skilling noted many ‘repairs must be done regardless if the bond passes or fails.?
‘We have buildings with leaky roofs that are not only causing further damage to the roof, but also causing damage to floors, ceilings, and furnishings,? he explained. ‘The repairs and remodeling also address door frames and window frames that are rusted through.?
Over at the OHS football stadium, the track encircling the field has deteriorated and needs to be resurfaced. Severe drainage problems that plague the area also need to be corrected.
Putting these types of things off will only cost the district more money in the future.
‘The cost of not doing timely infrastructure replacements and remodeling will increase the longer it is deferred,? Skilling said. ‘Many times deterioration of adjacent building components and systems get added to the project which would have not been necessary if it were done sooner.?
‘In the immediate sense, deferring maintenance of the track will eventually render the site useless and cause thousands of dollars in maintenance and even replacement,? said Athletic Director Mike Watson. ‘Deferring attention to drainage concerns at the stadium site will further delaminate the rubberized track surface from the asphalt base and hasten erosion of the subbase.?
If Proposal 1 does not pass, school officials indicated students will feel the affect.
‘Without the bond proposals, the money to maintain facilities will need to be taken from the operating budget, forcing deeper cuts in educational programs,? Loock said.
‘We will be forced to borrow the money and use operational dollars to pay back the loan,? Skilling said. ‘Eventually, we will have such a strain on our operational budget that it will have an impact on student programs.?
Buying a church
Proposal 1 also includes $1.5 million to purchase and renovate the First Baptist Church of Oxford (150 Pontiac St.).
The district plans to turn the 15,728-square-foot building, which sits on 7.35 acres Oxford Village, into a childcare/pre-kindergarten center and use the church’s existing athletic field for multiple purposes.
‘It’s the least expensive way for us to add capacity ? buy an existing facility and re-purpose it,? said Skilling in a previous interview.
Moving some of the childcare and pre-kindergarten programs to the church would create additional classroom capacity at the elementary schools.
‘There’s quite a bit of capacity there. It would meet all the current needs and allow for some future growth in the childcare program,? Skilling said.
Proposal 2
Dubbed Proposal 2, this $635,000 bond proposal exclusively pertains to the football stadium at Oxford High School.
It consists of replacing the grass field with synthetic turf and constructing a 1,000-square-foot facility with storage space for sports equipment.
‘There is a tremendous savings in the cost of ownership of a synthetic turf field over a grass field,? Skilling said. ‘The return on use and investment is much higher with a turf field. . . The school district will save $17,000 per year in annual maintenance cost with synthetic turf.?
Skilling indicated both the school district and local businesses stand to earn more revenue due to the stadium’s ability, with synthetic turf, to hold state athletic competitions in football, lacrosse and soccer.
‘Also, marching band festivals can be held in our stadium,? the superintendent added. ‘Marching band festivals bring more families to town due to the number of bands and participants in each marching band.?
Skilling indicated ‘the goal is to make athletics as self-sustaining as we can.?
‘The revenue generated from state competitions will help offset the general budget’s contribution to athletics,? he said.
If Proposal 2 does not pass, Watson foresees problems ahead.
‘Through program expansion, more stadium uses will create higher maintenance costs and faster depreciation to the facility,? he explained.
Watson noted that without some type of storage facility the district’s ‘expensive investments? in sports equipment, such as high jump pads, pole vault pit mats and hurdles, remain ‘exposed to the elements.?
‘Furthermore, there will be no temporary housing for players on the field to avoid the elements at intermissions or in the event of severe weather,? he added.
Taxes
As with the $70.135 million school bond proposal that failed 2,191-1,902 back in February, these Nov. 3 requests, if approved, will not increase the existing tax rate of 7 mills that district property owners currently pay annually to retire the schools? debt load.
However, the proposals are a tax increase in terms of property owners paying for a longer period of time, 10 years to be exact.
As it stands right now, the district’s current debt load is scheduled to be paid off in 2031. If these bond proposals pass next week, the debt won’t be paid off until 2041.
‘Where people’s additional tax comes from is during the extension period,? said Skilling in a previous interview. ‘Instead of having the (school) debt paid off, they’re continuing to pay. That’s where they pay the additional tax.?
Also, district taxpayers will see their millage rate decrease later rather than sooner, if both bonds are approved.
Currently, the district’s 7-mill debt tax is scheduled to begin decreasing in 2029. This will hold true even if only Proposal 2 passes.
However, if both bonds pass or even if just Proposal 1 is approved, the 7-mill debt tax won’t begin to decrease until 2037 based on a 2.8 percent growth projection over the last 25 years of the bond’s payoff.
New technology
Proposal 1 will enable the district to invest $8.7 million in new technology, the bulk of which is going directly in classrooms.
‘The current computers and technology that we are using are outdated and in some cases, no longer usable,? said Tim Throne, the district’s director of technology. ‘The average age of our computers in the district today is 5.5 years old. We are utilizing software programs that on average are even older (e.g., Microsoft Office 2002).?
‘We are attempting to educate and prepare students for their future, not our past,? Throne explained. ‘Therefore, we need up-to-date technology to prepare them for the world in which they are going to work and compete for jobs, not just across the state but across the world.?
Safe and secure
Security is another key facet of Proposal 1. If approved by voters, the bond money will be used to purchase new building-wide security systems that consist of both internal and external surveillance cameras and transform existing entrances at all seven schools into ‘safe and secure? entrances.
‘The safe and secure entrances will be designed so that visitors may not enter the school without physical routing through the office,? Loock explained. ‘The Department of Homeland Security has put in place many guidelines for how to improve (the) safety of our schools. One guideline suggests the construction of only one open entrance to the school building during the school day so that a visitor may not access the building without going through the office.?
Installing safe and secure entrances at all the schools will cost the district $1.059 million in bond money.
‘A secure and identifiable building entrance will provide an improved level of safety that does not currently exist,? Loock said. ‘From our community survey, safe and secure buildings were identified by 85 percent of the respondents as a high priority. Elementary parents in particular bring it up a lot when I speak at elementary parent meetings at the respective buildings.?
Additional space
But safe and secure entrances aren’t the only additions. Under Proposal 1, four new classrooms (a total of 6,000 square feet) would be added to Clear Lake Elementary.
Five new classrooms, along with a resource room (a total of 7,225 square feet), would be added to Oxford Elementary.
‘The new classrooms will provide needed room for enrollment growth,? Loock said.
This student growth will provide the additional funds to staff these new classrooms with teachers and add to the school’s operating budget.
‘Approximately nine students are required to totally fund a teacher,? Skilling explained. ‘Typically, we have between 25 and 27 students in a classroom. This provides additional revenue (of) between $120,000 to $135,000 to not only offset additional operational expense but also . . . offset the cuts in revenue by the state.?
Reutilized space
If approved, Proposal 1 would also allow existing classroom space at Lakeville Elementary to be renovated for better utilization, while an existing storage space would be transformed into a pre-K classroom.
Over at OHS, an existing lab would be renovated to accommodate pre-engineering programs.