A long-range master plan for USD 257 eventually could shift the Iola High School campus to the east side of Cottonwood Street, though that could be years away. The current school bond issue takes that possibility into consideration, asking voters to approve a new science and technology building where about 25 percent of high school classes would be held.
Voters will decide that proposal next Tuesday, along with propositions for a new elementary school and to replace aging heating, ventilation and cooling systems at the middle school.
But the vote on the first proposition–a new elementary school–is key when discussing both the science center and replacing the middle school’s mechanical systems. If the first proposition fails, the second and third propositions will fail as well, no matter how they fare on the ballot.