School tax issue headed to ballot

Voters in the Cape Girardeau School District will decide the fate of a $12 million bond issue on the April 2 ballot that involves more than funding for an indoor aquatic center.

The school board voted at a special session Thursday afternoon to place the general-obligation bond issue on the ballot.

Board member Jeff Glenn said voters need to understand the bond issue involves a number of improvements in the district.

"What gets lost in the discus sion is that the aquatic center is just part of the bond issue," he said.

The City of Cape Girardeau and the school system have agreed to partner on construction and operation of an indoor aquatic center adjacent to Jefferson Elementary School. It would replace the aging Central Municipal Pool.

City officials have budgeted $6 million for construction of an aquatic facility. The money would come from a parks/stormwater sales tax approved by voters last year.

School officials have pledged $4 million to help build the aquatic center, funding dependent on voters approving the April bond issue.

Glass said he hopes "other parties" will come forward to allow for construction of a larger facility now that the site has been settled on.

"I think it makes sense for us to continue our partnership with the city," Glenn said. The city and school district share the operating costs of Central Municipal Pool.

Glenn said the existing pool, which is housed under an inflatable bubble structure during winter months, is "in desperate need of replacement. The air quality is miserable in that facility," he said.

Cape Girardeau public schools superintendent Neil Glass said, "We hope to do a lot of things with Proposition Y."

The bulk of the bond-issue revenue would go toward improvements to school buildings, including renovations and expansion of Jefferson and Alma Schrader elementary schools at a combined cost of $4 million, and construction of a $1.5 million prekindergarten center.

The prekindergarten center project was not specifically listed in the drafted ballot language. School board members, however, voted to amend the ballot wording to identify the prekindergarten center as one of the projects to be funded with the bonds.

The school district operates preschool classes for 4- and 5-year-olds at four of the five elementary schools. Under the plan, a prekindergarten center would be built next to Jefferson School.

The bond issue also would pay for new roofs on Blanchard Elementary School and parts of Central High School and the Career and Technology Center, as well as heating and cooling upgrades at district buildings and repaving of school district parking lots.

Glass said there would be no tax increase with the bond issue. The debt-service levy would remain unchanged at $0.68 per $100 assessed valuation, according to the ballot measure.

The superintendent acknowledged after the meeting some school district residents are unhappy about plans to build the aquatic center near Jefferson School.

He said it is "a concern" some voters might oppose the bond issue because of the aquatic project.

But he said he believes school officials will be able to educate them on the merits of the proposal and the "Purpose Built Community" vision for improving the south-side neighborhood.

Glass said school officials are working to draw up more detailed improvement plans for the proposed bond-issue projects. The school district wants to share those plans and even artist renderings in advance of the April vote, Glass said.

Under Missouri law, the bond issue requires slightly more than 57 percent approval to pass.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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