Perry County School District may ask for property-tax hike to pay for improvements

Editor's note: This story has been edited to correct the financing structure of the discussed tax levy.

The Perry County School District is exploring the idea of a tax levy on April's ballot. On Monday night, officials sought opinions from residents to determine whether such a measure would be supported.

According to Kate Martin from the district, the second paragraph should read:

The money from a 35-cent property-tax levy, combined with 20 cents financed through existing district funds, would create a 55-cent debt-service fund to provide about $15 million in new construction and capital improvements needed in the district.

More than three dozen residents of Perryville attended the evening's first of two sessions, and most participated in text-based polling that evening to gauge interest and levels of support.

Superintendent Andy Comstock said the improvement projects would be a part of a long-term, eight-phase plan to improve the district's educational facilities and deal with crowding in several grade levels.

Aaron Harte, project manager with Incite Design Studios, the company hired by the district to perform a facility assessment, said the early-childhood center, elementary school, fifth-grade building and middle school were most in need of upgrades, though all the facilities required work.

Of those facilities, the early-childhood center is the only one operating below capacity. Harte suggested this could be a reflection of residents' lack of desire to send their children there.

There also are matters of security that need addressing, among other issues, such as the high school being spread across four buildings and dead-end corridors in the fifth-grade building.

Incite Design recommends creating a new primary-school facility, incorporating the early-childhood center into it and relocating fifth grade into a renovated version of the elementary-school building once the primary school is up and running.

The early-childhood center and fifth-grade buildings still could be used for other purposes outside of classroom use, he said.

"The bones are still good," Harte said.

The only building Harte doesn't suggest finding new use for is the middle school. Incite recommends a replacement of the existing facility, with a configuration that connects the existing gym and cafeteria spaces.

The high school also would undergo renovations and improvements.

Those who attended the forum supported the measures Harte and Comstock laid out. The majority felt the early childhood center and the second grade should be a part of the new primary center, and the fifth grade should be a part of the elementary school.

The 31 voting members of the audience said they would support the proposed 35-cent property tax, and 65 percent of them said they thought voters would support the measure as well.

Harte said the next step would be to go before the school board with the plan. Information would have to be given to the election office by Jan. 24 for the measure to be on the April 4 ballot, he said.

Comstock said the presentation would be brought before community groups in the coming weeks.

Comstock said if the levy passes, the district could come back in three or four years for a bond issue to reduce taxes.

"We're only asking for what we need," he said, "and we're going to work with what we got."

bbrown@semissourian.com

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