By Emily Younker
eyounker@joplinglobe.com
Officials with Carl Junction and Webb City school districts on Tuesday will ask voters to let them cash in on federal stimulus funds available for construction projects.
Under the Qualified School Construction Bond Program, approximately $140 million is available through federal stimulus funds for Missouri school districts this year for capital projects.
The issues will require a four-sevenths majority, or about 57.1 percent, to pass.
The bond proposals would have normally required a two-thirds majority for passage in a special vote in an off-year November election. But state lawmakers took steps for the reduced-margin requirement to help school districts qualify for the federal stimulus money.
Carl Junction
A $1 million bond issue has been proposed in Carl Junction for school repairs and renovations.
If approved, the district would be able to borrow a portion of the amount in interest-free bonds through the federal program.
School officials say that with the break on interest, projected growth in the district’s assessed valuation and the incremental retirement of current debt, the district’s current 82-cent debt-service levy should accommodate payments on the new bonds. No extension of the debt schedule will be needed, officials said.
The proposal would fund the replacement of heating, ventilation and air conditioning; roof repairs; and lighting upgrades, according to Superintendent Phil Cook.
“There are real needs to update the facilities,” Cook said.
The air conditioning system in the kindergarten and first-grade building, for example, has been part of the school since it was built in 1972, Cook said.
“For the past couple of years, it’s been patching it back together, and it’s just a matter of time before it gives out,” he said.
Cook also said the lighting in the second- and third-grade and intermediate buildings, and the roof of the intermediate building are overdue for upgrades.
The bond issue would fund pavement of the bus area and a covered bus bay. It would also reimburse the district for track resurfacing that already has been completed, Cook said.
Webb City
A similar proposal is on the ballot in Webb City, where residents will vote on a $2 million bond issue that would expand the early childhood program by adding classrooms at existing schools.
The bond issue would fund the construction of four classrooms each at Madge T. James Kindergarten Center, Bess Truman Primary Center and Carterville Elementary School.
At each school, two of the classrooms would be given to the early childhood program. The other two rooms would be available for regular use.
The bond issue is not expected to require an increase in the district’s current debt-service levy of 68 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. Superintendent Ron Lankford said the bond payments are expected to fit within the current repayment schedule.
Most of the early childhood program is housed at Franklin Early Childhood Center. The building holds the Parents as Teachers program, a day-care operation, early childhood special education classes, and the Title 1 preschool.
“We’re really outgrowing it,” Cathy Hall, early childhood coordinator, said.
Franklin currently has one classroom for Title 1 preschool classes that serve 45 students, Hall said. A second Title 1 classroom added this year at Carterville serves another 30 students.
Children are chosen for Title 1 classes through a screening process based on criteria such as family history and participation in Parents as Teachers, Hall said.
Franklin and Carterville also have one classroom each for early childhood special education students.
Hall said 32 children are currently on the waiting list, which can have as many as 80 names on it at the beginning of a typical school year.
With the proposed expansion, Hall hopes to accept more students into preschool classes, including 3-year-olds, who aren’t currently served by the program.
“We want to provide preschool for a more diverse populace (and) for children who may not qualify for Title 1 services, but who would also benefit from attending preschool before kindergarten,” Hall said. “We would ideally like to offer placement for all children ages 3 and 4, and other children who don’t qualify for Title 1.”
