Meadow Heights bond issue would keep tax rates the same, pay for improvements

No frills, just immediate needs.

That's how officials in the Meadow Heights School District describe Tuesday's bond issue before voters.

"We're not doing anything extravagant, just things to keep our facilities and programming going," said Dan Tallent, president of the Meadow Heights School Board.

The district is asking voters to approve borrowing $600,000, "without an estimated increase in the current debt service property tax levy."

The district's debt service levy would remain at 35 cents per $100 assessed valuation under the borrowing plan, with no effect on property taxes, officials say.

In recent years, the K-12 district of 550 students has paid off bonds from previous improvement projects and saved more than $200,000 in interest through refinancing, officials say. So the borrowing plan would effectively replace the previous debt and, as it stands today, take the district longer to pay off the total debt load.

Superintendent Rob Huff said the school system has some pressing facilities needs, much of which are part of long-term facilities planning. If voters don't approve the borrowing plan, the projects still will have to be completed, and the district will have to tap into its operating budget to make the payments.

"That affects library books, new textbooks, salary for new staff, teachers," Huff said. The bottom line, he said, is that teacher positions and programming would face cuts.

Topping the list of urgent improvements are upgrades already made and paid for. Ten of the district's heating, ventilation and air conditioning units were failing, including two that shut down. So the board approved $90,000 in emergency funding for the HVAC units, Huff said.

"We were concerned about safety. There were cracks in the heat exchangers," he said. "I'm not going to put these kids in classrooms like that."

The borrowing plan would cover the cost of a few buses, replacing some of the more aged vehicles in the district's fleet.

"Yes, we could run old school buses if we have to, but it would cost us as much in repairs as a new bus would," Tallent said, noting a growing concern of the buses breaking down on the rural gravel roads.

Also on the list of priorities, a security system with cameras and fencing between the playground and the parking lot. Huff called it a double security concern -- the possibility that a child could run into the parking lot into the path of vehicles, and the intrusion of someone having unauthorized contact with a child.

"Any administrator or teacher would say their No. 1 priority is safety and security," Huff said. "It's hard to educate children if they don't feel safe."

The bond question calls for completing additional repairs and renovations from the 2006 improvement plan, including upgrades to the high school bathrooms. Huff said the 1960s-built facilities are dated, without functioning hot water.

Declining state revenue in recent years has forced deep cuts to the district's budget, which is about $5 million this year. Over the past couple of years, the district has eliminated a high school teaching position, a bus driver and food service staff member, and the music department is down to one music teacher, Huff said. A custodial position was reduced, the supply budget was cut, as was the industrial arts program.

Huff said failure to gain taxpayer approval of the bond issue would require further reductions in teaching staff and the exploration of transportation cuts as well as the trimming of some extracurricular activity budgets.

Tuesday's bond issue comes a year after a referendum calling for a tax increase was overwhelmingly defeated at the polls. The district asked voters for a 50-cent tax increase per $100 assessed valuation in the operating levy. The levy remains at $2.75, the minimum required by the state.

Tallent, as a former longtime superintendent in Meadow Heights and Cape Girardeau, has seen his share of successful referendums. But last year's tax asking, he acknowledges, was probably more than the small agricultural town of Patton, Mo., and surrounding communities in the district were willing to support.

This time around, Tallent believes the bond issue will be an easier sell.

"We don't have any organized resistance," he said. "I'm sure there will be some people to vote no because they think that's the way to go. But I think most people in our district look at it for what it's for -- not an increase in taxes but something that allows us to provide good quality programs for our children."

mkittle@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

Rob Huff, superintendent of Meadow Heights School District, shows Wednesday one of the outside doors that should replaced, which the passage of a bond issue could provide. (Fred Lynch)

Highway 72 E., Patton, MO