CAPTION: From left: Board Members Gleysha Mendez-Rosario, Tad Dower, Cheryl Thompson, Darcie Canfield-Riggs, Valarie Gibson-Smith, Lance Patterson and President Laura Corey. CREDIT USD 308
By Kate Irelan
Superintendent of Hutchinson USD 308 Dr. Dawn Johnson at the Hutchinson USD 308 Board of Education meeting reported that the Kansas State Department of Education suspended their application for $109 million in state bonds because the bond cap was exceeded, and the district will not be able to hold a vote on April 1.
“I had talked in the past about possibly exceeding the bond cap, and I was given every indication that the bond cap has not been exceeded before and that we’d be fine,” Johnson said. Unfortunately, that is not the case. So the bottom line is that we cannot vote on April 1.”
The district will have to pick another date. Johnson highlighted conclusions from the KSDE Deputy Commissioner as to why the bond cap was exceeded. The state board had received applications prior to USD 308’s application in December, leaving a remaining balance of $263 million in the bond pool. The state board reviews applications monthly, and four schools applied in December, including Hutchinson, which exceeded the cap.
“There’s just a lot of schools putting in for new construction,” said Johnson. She explained that the state board then prioritizes the applications according to the state statute using criteria including building safety and disability access, enrollment growth and imminent overcrowding, delivery of educational services, and energy use and efficiency. Then applications are considered in the order they are received.
Johnson said that the state board bond hearings were held on Dec. 20 and after approving applications from two other schools ranking higher in the needs assessments, the remaining balance in the bond cap was $89 million. Hutchinson’s application was for $109 million.
The schools that received state approval will have their local elections, and if one of their bonds fails, that amount will go back into the state bond pool, and Hutchinson might have another opportunity for their application to be approved.
“We don’t have to go through another hearing or application process again, but do have to set a new date to vote for a resolution,” Johnson said. “We could pick a date before this school year is over, but the challenge is that if we pick a date hoping, then we’d have to cancel it if the money isn’t available.”
Johnson said that summer is not as good a time to engage families for a vote, and there are no primary elections they could piggyback off of the costs until November. Not having a primary vote means the school district will have to pay for a special election.
“A special election costs $19,400, which we were already going to do in April,” Johnson said. “To have a mail-in election, it would cost $40,000 for postage. September is not a good time because the polling location is at the Fairgrounds and you know what happens at the fairgrounds in September, the Kansas State Fair.”
She said that the cost to move a polling location would cost an additional $12,000 to notify the community of the new location by mail and the voter turnout will likely be poor because of confusion. The only option that will cost nothing will be to hold a vote in November.
If the district has to wait until next year, they will be first in line for the state board to reconsider their application. No action was requested of the school board.
The USD 308 board meets every second and fourth Monday of the month at 6:00 p.m. in the Administration Center, 1520 N. Plum. For more information and to view the agenda or minutes of the meetings, visit their website, https://www.usd308.com/page/boe
