With the  goal in mind of passing a $5 million dollar bond issue in the November 7 election to renovate and add to the existing Holden High School, the Holden R-III School board set to work last Tuesday night in a special meeting held at the high school library.

The meeting, which was open to the public, was held to plan a strategy to educate R-III patrons on the need to increase the size and facilities of the high school to keep up with the area’s student growth-rate and state standards. 

The existing high school campus was constructed 41 years ago with the design of  educating 350 students.

The school has housed more than 400 students  for at least the last 10 years, and has approached 500 since September 2004.  This year’s enrollment stands at 484, which represents  a 27 percent over-crowding rate.

At present, there are approximately 150 students per day who have classes in mobile units south of the main building.

According to district superintendent Scott Slava, this creates some serious problems.  “First of all, these temporary units which, after seven years, have become more than temporary are too small, drafty and inefficient to heat, cool and maintain.”

The superintendent continued, “Also, student movement from the main building to the mobiles and back is a strong health and safety concern.”

A detailed additions and alterations plan for the high school which would alleviate the overcrowding and provide for growth to 600 students was presented by Wade Lininger, a representative of Sam A. Winn & Associates Architects, P.C..

The plan calls for 36,970 square feet of additions and 11,500 square feet of renovation to the high school building.  It also includes new student and staff parking, elementary school parking, a new  asphalt bus drive and  underground drainage.

Add in other possible considerations, such as prefinished casework, needed kitchen equipment, metal lockers, unsuitable soil, solid rock removal, architect’s fees and and other unexpected contingencies, the total price tag should reach $5 million.

When built, the renovations and additions would generate 17 new classrooms added to the north side of the existing school, allowing the district to remove the mobile units and their inherent risks.

The new plans also call for a 200-seat capacity cafeteria and kitchen facility which would reduce the amount of the present four lunch periods and give  all the students more time to eat.  The present kitchen would be converted to science classrooms.  “Currently, only one of our two science classrooms has the appropriate laboratory requirements needed,” explained Slava.

Renovations would alleviate the problem of a library/media center that is too small and currently not meeting MSIP standards.

They would also remove the problem of students having to go outside to agriculture and art classrooms which are housed in the ag building.  Plans call for the ag building to be reached by a hallway.

Board president inquired of Lininger if there is something the district can do to construct something useable other than the cost of “brick and mortar.” 

Lininger replied that short of a pre-engineered metal building, which would be inefficient and not last as long there was not.  “Even with that,” he continued, “the cost would not be that far apart.  Plus constructing tied to the existing building of a different material would have its own set of problems, such as expansion.”

Miller continued by saying that he felt the board agrees that “this is a well thought-out plan, but anything we as a board can do to reduce costs, we need to look at.”

Board member Pat Zvacek commented, “Several local people I have talked to about the renovations have stated that this is the best thought-out plan they have ever seen from the district.” Lininger agreed and stated that “this has been a long time coming.”

The superintendent and board are actively seeking community input to get the bond issue passed.  To that end they have scheduled another planning session and would like to see as many community members as possible in attendance.  The meeting will be May 23 at 6 p.m. in the high school library.

By Steve Sullins
Editor

Making sure that Holden R-III School District patrons are not only aware of the needs of Holden High School additions and renovations, but also of the cost of those alterations is of prime concern to district superintendent Scott Slava and the R-III School Board.

That fact came out at the recent special board meeting as one of the basic tenets of the district’s program to obtain the local community’s  support for the $5 million dollar bond issue to be placed on the ballot on election day November 7.

The bottom line is that in order to fund the additions and renovations to the high school that was built in the early 1960s to house 350 students, the district will have to  increase  the district’s levy from $3.61 to $3.98, or a $.37 raise.

That doesn’t tell the complete story, however.  The present levy, which has been at that rate or higher since June 1999, is made up of two parts - $3.31 incidental (or operational) fund, and $.30 debt service fund. 

To fund the alterations to the high school, which now is at an almost 30 percent overcrowding rate with nearly 500  students and numbers that continue to grow, the debt service levy would need to be increased by $.37 per $100 of assessed valuation, and the incidental fund would require a hike of $.12 to fund the “much-needed” teacher salary increase voted for in the last regular board meeting.

This still doesn’t portray the whole picture, Slava says as the debt service fund, being a fluid vehicle, will be “in the red” by the 2009-2010 school year if it is not increased by at least $.10.   Also, if the $.12 increase in the incidental fund doesn’t occur, the district will be deficit spending next year at an approximate $900,000 rate, he added.

The bond issue on the ballot will ask for a $.37 increase, but in reality, the district will only be asking for a $.27 increase.  The $.10 increase in debt service, to keep the fund from going into the red, could happen anyway by a school board majority vote.

The raise in the total levy is by no means out of line according to Slava.  In a list prepared by the district’s top man, four out of the six other schools in Johnson County are higher than the proposed $3.98 Holden levy.  Kingsville, Chilhowee, Leeton and Warrensburg have higher tax bases.  The fifth, Knob Noster, is in an unusual situation because of extra federal money due to the large number of military dependents from Whiteman Air Force Base attending the district schools.

Out of 19 area schools other than Johnson county,  11 have a higher levy than Holden’s proposed hike.  These schools include Oak Grove, Odessa, Sweet Springs, Archie, Pleasant Hill, Harrisonville, Drexel, Grain Valley, Orrick, Higginsville and Lexington.

“What this would mean to the Holden homeowner who has a house valued at $100,000 would be an extra $70.30 per year in real estate taxes.  That’s only $5.86 more a month, or $1.23 more per week,” explained Slava.   “That’s really not a lot of money to spend to be able to provide for a high school that is suitable for our district student population.”

Residential property is assessed at a 19 percent valuation, while farm land would be at the lower rate of 12 percent.

The board will have another planning session May 23 at 6 p.m. at the high school library and would like to see a large number of community patrons in attendance.

Future plans for  Slava include putting together a list of possible campaign supporters and starting organizational meetings for a campaign steering committee and working with them throughout the campaign process.  He also will  continue meeting with the architects’ representative to streamline the project  and schedule informational small-group home meetings as well as larger open forums to educate and gain support from patrons.

The superintendent also asked  volunteers willing to help with the campaign to call the district office at 732-5568.

 By Steve Sullins
Editor