(Editor?s note: This is the second article in a series related to the April 2 USD 257 school bond referendum. To read the first one, click here.)
Jon Miller, a senior at Iola High School, turned 18 a couple weeks ago. Miller is excited that this milestone enables him not only to cast his first official vote but also that it will decide a USD 257 school bond question on April 2.
The issue is whether to approve $25.5 million to build a new elementary school, with options to build a new science and technology center, with a new cafeteria, at the high school for $7 million and new heating, ventilation and cooling systems for the middle school for $2.8 million. The bond question is arranged so that voters must agree to build the new elementary school before they can approve either or both of the other options.
Miller doesn?t yet know how he?ll vote. As a student, he sees the need for improvements. But he?s also worried about saddling taxpayers with additional debt as he leaves for Bowdoin College in Maine next fall.
?We could have the best facilities in the world but at what cost? I know the facility is old and it could definitely use an update, but I think it?s a little bit unfair for 51 percent to vote for it and force the other 49 percent to have to pay for it, too,? Miller said. ?If I were staying in Iola and were self-sufficient, I would probably vote yes. But I know that?s not everyone?s position.?
MILLER reflects the uncertainty even high school students feel when it comes to deciding whether to build new school facilities.
Sophomore Henry Lohman agrees the district needs a new elementary school ? he remembers the mold in Jefferson ? but says he?s satisfied with the current science building. He travels to other schools for forensic competitions and sees the nicer, newer facilities they have.
?A lot of them are prettier than ours,? he said. ?Of course, I want our schools to look nice but I don?t see the need for it.?
Fellow sophomore Bobby Lewis said, ?If it will help students advance, then I think it?s a worthwhile investment.?
Lewis said his classes at the science building have left him with a negative impression.
?I have a sense of an older building, like nothing really ever changes. I get a sense that it?s been like this for a long time,? he said.
Senior Bret Plumlee has taken science and engineering classes at the current science building, and is an aide to science teacher David Daugharthy. He thinks a new science and technology building is necessary, and he?s seen problems with outdated equipment and infrastructure. Recently, he plugged his Chromebook charger into an electrical outlet at the science building and it exploded. He doesn?t know if the fault lies with the electrical outlet, the charger or the Chromebook but it?s easy to blame the building.
?I think it?s really outdated,? Plumlee said.
Miller also sees advantages with a new science and technology building. He?s taking a robotics class, which currently is squeezed into a classroom at the main IHS building. Students pack their robotic equipment into a closet with other items. A competition ring to practice their skills leaves little room to maneuver.
?It?s kind of a mess but we?re making it work,? Miller said. ?We have a long way to go on our robot and we?re trying to do some really complex stuff. Every minute matters. The time it takes to haul a bunch of stuff out of the back room and clean it up again, and having to walk around in a cramped space is time that could go a long way on our project.?
Miller attended a meeting of the steering committee that studied the need for new facilities and recommended the current school bond proposal. Because he travels to the middle school for band class and always finds himself removing layers of clothes because of temperature fluctuations in the building, he agrees with their recommendation for a new HVAC system there. He also thinks IMS is too cramped. Building a new elementary school would allow the district to move fifth grade classes out of the middle school, providing more room.
?I?m going to have to do a lot of thinking before I vote,? Miller said.
