Kelloggsville voters will receive a letter Oct. 18 from Superintendent Samuel Wright asking them to approve a 22-year, $11.3 million bond when they go to the polls on Nov. 2.
The letter notes that approval of the bond proposal would not increase taxes above the current rate but would allow the district to make a number of valuable educational improvements. These include the construction and addition of a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) building at Kelloggsville High School; a new media center at Southeast Elementary; technology upgrades to enhance instruction and more.
Eric Alcorn, director of human resources, said taxes won’t increase because when the district recently refinanced its 2015 debt it saved more than $2 million, allowing it to keep the rate at 7.32 mills.
According to the ballot language, the estimated millage that will be levied for the proposed bonds in 2022 is 0.95 mill — $0.95 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation — for a 0-mill net increase over the prior year’s levy.
But what the bond will allow Kelloggsville to do will mark significant improvements for students, Alcorn added. At the high school, he said, the goal is “to give students an exceptional facility that will provide opportunities for STEM, robotics and business classes.”
He added: “For STEM, we have both robotics and business classes that currently work out of existing classrooms that are set up for traditional classes. We need space for drills, saws, computers and space for graphic design. In addition, we need flexible space for our robotics clubs to practice and test projects while at the same time be able to be used as an additional learning area.”
The elementary school’s media center similarly will expand opportunities for students, Alcorn added.
“Media centers today need to be adaptable, personal and hands-on with a focus on project-based learning,” he said. “We want to be able to help build on every student’s ability to use technology.”
In the last decade, Kelloggsville has had a number of bond proposals successfully pass, including a $33.9 million ballot measure for the high school addition in 2015 and a $19.2 million measure for Central Elementary School in 2018.
