The Guthrie Board of Education in a special meeting last week discussed a proposal to allow district residents to vote on a $45 million school bond election on Aug. 27.
The school board will make a final decision at its May 6 meeting.
At April’s board meeting, the Long-Range Planning Committee presented their findings to the board after discussions and building assessments across the district.
The bond would address capacity issues at several schools and build a new elementary school on the town’s east side.
Superintendent Dr. Mike Simpson told the board the district previously acquired 38 acres of land for this purpose in 2019.
Simpson said a new elementary school would cost just over $31.8 million with a projected construction start time in 2029.
Simpson said many of the district schools are near capacity, and the school district is growing with over 900 planned homes within Guthrie’s city limits and more than 1,700 planned in the surrounding area that are within the school district.
“This is continual growth,” Simpson said. “We have to develop a plan to be as proactive as possible. We are trying to develop a plan so that we can address where we are now but also where we are headed.”
The school board also addressed a facility addition for the wrestling program, which now includes girls wrestling.
Simpson said the standalone building, which would be built off the current wrestling room, would be solely for wrestling practice with two full mats, bathrooms, and a walk space. The current space would be renovated into a boys and girls locker room.
The estimated construction cost is $1,265,000, which does not include the locker room renovation.
Simpson said the school district would need to look for other funding sources for the locker room project.
“We identified a serious need with the growth of girls wrestling. We simply do not have the facility. It was never created for that,” he said. “We just don't have enough square footage.”
The proposed bond includes funding for needs such as HVAC systems, $1.7 million, parking lot needs ($450,000), roofing needs ($450,000), and other prioritized projects ($1.4 million).
District voters previously approved bond issues in 2015 and 2019 which included the construction of two elementary schools.
In 2015, the sinking fund millage rate went from zero to a target rate of 15.7 mills. However, with the net asset value (NAV) growth in the district, that millage was not reached. In the 2019 bond, the target rate was 17 mills, but in 2022 the sinking fund stood at 15.84.
With the 2024 proposal, the school district is targeting a 19 to 20 millage rate over seven years ending in 2031.