If you could send children to school in a new building without an added tax burden, would you?
That’s what is on the line for Gore Public Schools when voters go to the polls Aug. 27.
The school district is seeking to pass a bond initiative that comes without any additional tax liability.
If passed, the $11.9 million no-tax-increase bond proposal will fund the construction of a new lower elementary school as well as the renovation of other school buildings.
The bond is a replacement bond to take the place of the current bond when it expires, Gore Superintendent Lucky McCrary explains. “This is why the bond proposal is a no-tax-increase proposal.”
McCrary says the reason to seek a replacement bond is because capital improvements — which is buildings — can only be made by expenditures from a school’s building fund or a bond.
“Our building fund annually collects around $120,000 from local property taxes. This is used to make needed repairs and upkeep on district buildings,” McCrary says. “We are very selective on projects out of this fund to ensure the district has funds on hand for emergency situations like storm damage, large expense equipment failures, etc.
“If all local property taxes collected annually in this account were never used, it would take, at the current rate, more than 65 years to get the proposed construction costs for the proposed bond amount at the current cash value. This figure does not account for prices of materials and labor that will keep going up. The only option available to build a classroom building is a bond,” the superintendent says.
“Building costs will continue to increase, making every dollar we can get buy less, requiring a larger bond in the future to get the same build- ing as proposed.”
Priorities determined So why a new lower elementary facility? Mc-Crary says the lower elementary is the most needed of all the district’s buildings.
“Our lower elementary was built, per the construction plaque in the main hallway, in 1966. The upper section beginning at the back wall of the library was added in 1968, per the construction plaque. The issues are the structure design itself, with all walls load-bearing walls, plumbing encased in the concrete floors, electrical panels and wiring, and classroom sizes. This building was designed to meet the standards in 1966 with small numbers of students and no ADA requirements,” McCrary explains.
“This building has been updated and remodeled over the years to accommodate student needs as much as possible. The ceilings were insulated, hallways heated and cooled, glass block windows replaced with energy efficient safety windows, new flooring, new restroom partitions, new appliances in the cafeteria. The cafeteria has new roof-mounted heat and air units. The roof has been patched numerous times and has been overlayed twice.”
But the current bond doesn’t expire for two more years, so why should voters pass a new replacement bond now?
“If the bond proposal is not passed, it will require added tax burdens on any future bonds to yield the same money,” McCrary warns.
In recent years, the school district has made some improvements and renovations, such as upper grade restrooms, new water fountains and new cafeteria tables. Among other upgrades include adding awnings to car and bus rider lines, enclosing the school entrance to make it a secure reception area, filling block walls with insulation and replacing light fixtures with energy efficient LED lights.
“These are just a few of the updates and maintenance items that have been done to the existing building. This building requires constant maintenance to keep it functional,” McCrary says.
“We have run out of options on classroom sizes due to the loadbearing wall design, electrical requirements of modern classrooms. The restroom plumbing is in the concrete running under the floors, and is old ductile pipe that has corroded and is crumbing due to 58 years of heavy use.”
McCrary says the main building roof has been repaired many times and continues to have leaking issues due to the flat roof design and structural supports within the roof/ceilings. The heat and air units are built in and require constant maintenance.
In addition, the current cafeteria kitchen has imbedded plumbing and electrical in the loadbearing walls and floor. The current food storage has walk-in coolers and freezer built within the block walls with only a walk-in door access making maintenance and replacement nearly impossible without tearing out part of the existing wall that supports the roof.
McCrary also says the current library is too small to accommodate but a few students at a time, with no reading or tutoring space. In addition, book selection is limited due to spacing and fire marshal requirements for spacing and evacuation requirements.
The superintendent says patching the flat roof is an ongoing process “just to keep water from dripping into the ceiling insulation and onto our students.”
Proposed new building
If voters pass the notax- increase replacement bond, the school district will be able to build a modern, safe and efficient facility “eliminating the current issues we are facing.”
“The new facility will replace most of the existing original building with a new cafeteria, new library and larger classrooms,” McCrary says. “We will keep the cafeteria and office section of the current building to be utilized for the district business offices, a PE classroom, possibly classroom space if needed, and staff training facility (existing cafeteria) as no structural modifications will be needed for this repurposing.”
McCrary says the roof over the cafeteria and office areas blew away several years ago, and the school’s insurance and construction code allowed for replacing the section back to “original build without modifications.”
The superintendent says the existing Pre-K building will be modified to accommodate several larger class sizes, and restroom updates are planned “to meet the needs of these more mature students. Federal Covid funds allowed us to replace the Pre-K building roof with no cost to the district two years ago.”
The Pre-K building was built with non-loadbearing classroom divider walls that McCrary says will make renovation possible. In addition, the restrooms have usable plumbing, and the electrical system meets current code and capacity.
Plans also call for covered walkways to connect the existing Pre-K building, gym and safe room to the new facility, and provide covered loading and unloading of students. The new design will provide safe travel routes for students to each building without entering traffic, parking areas or a public street, McCrary says.
The new facility will provide a drive-through with covered awnings over sidewalks that parents access for the car rider line. The pull-through student drop-off/pickup line will be in front of the main building, eliminating pick-up and drop-off of students out in the street or having to go through the busy gym parking lot to walk students to the entrance.
Additional plans
The plan for the school also includes:
• Dedicated bus rider lanes on the gym side of the building, allowing smooth transition from the buses to the building — students and parents will no longer have to cross bus pathways to enter or exit the building
• The library media center and nurse station will be centrally located so all students can easily access the library and nurse, and the new library size will accommodate entire classes of students and provide needed reading, study, tutoring, expanded book selections and AR skills testing
• A main entrance lobby is designed to provide easy access to visitors and students, incorporating a much-needed secure main entrance so that visitors will no longer have to enter the student hallways to access the secretary or principal for assistance
• The cafeteria design will accommodate classes of students to help younger students easily get in and out, get served meals and dispose of trays easily
• The kitchen design will allow for deliveries of food away from student/ parent entrances, and will not hinder traffic flow; modern kitchen equipment will allow for more efficient and sanitary meal preparation and serving of students
• The new facility will have two sets of student restrooms, one set for Pre-K through first grade students in their classroom wing, and one set designed for older students in their wing, minimizing restroom usage issues
• The new design provides for future needed classrooms, expandable plumbing for current and future restrooms, office space for support services such as special education, nurse and modern classroom instructional practices, as well as electrical upgrades to handle present and future needs Finalizing plans
“We reduced the number of classrooms on the original design to fit within the proposed bond amount to not increase property taxes,” McCrary says. “This is why we have proposed in the bond to remodel the Pre-K building and use it for classrooms as well. This building is much newer, and the design allows for expansion of the classroom walls.
“We designed the proposed facility with future growth in mind. This includes plumbing and electrical capacity infrastructure for connecting future space/classrooms additions. The building fund can then be used to add on as the budget allows and not require additional bonds,” he says.
The current plan is to house all grades that are currently located on the lower elementary campus to remain on that campus; Pre-K through 5th grade.
While the bond will result in a new look for the school, McCrary made keeping the large pecan tree in the elementary school playground a priority.
“Responses indicated this is important to the community,” McCrary says. “The building will be located so that the tree will remain in place and continue to be a part of the new facility layout. We will move the building over to accommodate this.”
