BROKEN BOW — A $26 million dollar bond to address facility and program updates at Broken Bow Public Schools is in the hands of the voters.
The Broken Bow Board of Education has called a bond election in an amount not to exceed $26,500,000 to address, “urgent facility and program needs,” according to Build Bow Together, the group working to get the bond passed.
If passed, the bond will allow the district to make improvements to their middle school and high school facilities.
“There are many areas that need to be addressed which are currently falling short of meeting educational needs. In order to better serve our students and provide them with a competitive learning environment, this bond will focus on the Agriculture and Vocational trade facilities and the Science classrooms and labs,” Build Bow Together’s website states.
This bond election takes place in the shadow of a failed $29 million bond issue in 2021 that saw 848 vote no, while 503 voted in favor of the issue.
“Education is not a static process, and it takes a combined effort between educators and community members to provide our students with every opportunity to succeed,” the Build Bow Together website stated.
If approved, it would result in 39,000 square feet of new construction, 78,900 square feet of renovation work, 65 percent of the new construction would be a new agriculture, auto, metals and woods facility.
Other upgrades would include the replacement of the current HVAC system with a new energy efficient system, safety upgrades would include a single main entrance and all students under one roof. There would also be fire code and ADA compliance updates.
Also included in the bond, renovation of current high school science into a joint high school and middle school science department including labs; renovation of auditorium into fine arts center; renovated space for updated Business classroom with lab; addition of a hallway from existing MS to AB and Wrestling buildings; new roof for existing high school building and renovating of HS gym for cross courts for practice and youth tournaments.
“This project provides much needed updates to current Science classroom and remodels additional classrooms including vocal and instrumental music, art, media and special education,” Build Bow Together stated.
According to the group, this bond differs from the 2021 issue in that this bond saves money by focusing more on renovation, rather than new construction.
The expected individual tax impact is $25 per year on $100,000 of assessed valuation for taxpayers. Ag land is assessed at 50 percent of appraised value for school bond elections, Build Bow Together stated.
The current school taxes per year are $955.61, while school taxes with the bond per year will be $979.66. If approved the bond taxes will go into effect in January 2025.
The issue is currently in the hands of the Broken Bow school district voters. The ballots are due Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 5 p.m.
