Published: November 11, 2007 01:28 am            

$11.5 million propositions will allow Enid schools to finish what was started, officials say

Editor’s note: The News & Eagle will present an in-depth look at projects on an Enid Public Schools proposed bond issue election. The series starts Nov. 25 and continues daily through Dec. 9. Anyone wishing to submit questions about the proposal can e-mail them to trasp@enidnews.com.



By Tippi Rasp Staff Writer



When an independent company was hired in 2001 to provide Enid Public Schools with a comprehensive facility plan, school administrators and board members knew it was just the first phase of a long-range plan.

“I think the needs that come out in this report will be so numerous that we will have to prioritize,” Keithly told the News & Eagle in December 2001. “This is just the beginning of what we want to do.”

In fact, school administrators knew they wouldn’t be able to ask voters for the entire amount at once, because they simply didn’t have the bonding capacity required for the nearly $40 million needed. Keithly said they didn’t want to burden taxpayers with such a large tax increase.

So board members pared down the study and devised a plan: Team with the city and ask voters for a combined $26.2 million bond issue and sales tax proposal that would meet immediate needs for the school district, provide technology upgrades and put the district on a bus replacement schedule.

It worked. Those proposals passed Feb. 11, 2003, and every school in the district has seen at least some improvements. About $14 million was secured to fund improvements at buildings, but only a portion of that has been spent, as construction and renovations occur at multiple sites on a phased plan.

School districts sell bonds in phases to keep property tax rates lower and because the district can only incur so much bonded indebtedness at a time.

Improvements under the 2003 measures are continuing as secured funds become available.





Fast forward to ’07



Two EPS bond propositions totaling $11.5 million are on the ballot for Dec. 11. School administrators say the issues are a continuation of the earlier campaign and funds will provide needed facility, transportation and technology upgrades.

With the Dec. 11 measure, the district is trying to secure funds to “finish what we started in 2003,” Keithly said.

Todd Earl, local businessman and chairman of the 2003 campaign, has volunteered to lead the current campaign to secure more funds he says the district needs to meet long-range goals.

Earl said in 2003 school officials and bond issue committee members recognized the election measures were the “first in a number of steps that are necessary to address all of our facilities’ needs across the district.”





Taking a look at accountability



While some problems have arisen that increased cost of a few of the projects funded by the 2003 election, Earl said school administrators have done an excellent job budgeting and making their dollars stretch.

For example, construction and supply costs have risen about 20 percent since the Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2005.

Earl said despite the increased costs and other unexpected expenses, school administrators are just 7 percent over cost estimates provided in the 2001 independent study.

Keithly said he has been surprised overall at the amount of projects the district has completed so far with the available funds.

He also said two factors working in the school district’s favor are added interest from the bond funds and excess sales tax collections from the city.

Based on those numbers, Earl said voters don’t have to worry about the accountability factor when approving the propositions Dec. 11.

“Obviously, we were blessed with financial manipulation done in an honorable fashion,” Earl said.

And, Earl said, accountability is key when any public entity is asking for funding from voters.

“We’re telling the truth,” Earl said. “The numbers are very transparent. They have spent the money just like taxpayers have said.”





At what cost?



The current measures scheduled for the Dec. 11 election ballot would increase property taxes by 3.9 percent.

For example, someone who currently pays $500 in property taxes annually would see an increase of less than $20 a year. Someone who pays $1,000 annually in property taxes would see an increase of just less than $40 a year.

The increase would be the same for the first four years, then would decrease for the life of the bonds.





New school, multiple projects



School officials and Earl are quick to point out they will be close to the original 2001 estimate of $39 million if voters agree to the Dec. 11 measures.

The only change from the original plan is constructing a new Garfield Elementary School, which added about $2 million to the original plan.

“I’m delighted we didn’t vote it all at once (in 2003),” Earl said. “The result is the first brand new elementary school since 1963.”

Besides a new Garfield Elementary School, other major projects in the upcoming measure include connecting hallways at Coolidge Elementary School and classroom additions at Hoover and Adams elementary schools. The proposed addition at Adams includes a cafeteria.

Other proposed renovations at multiple sites include renovating additional banks of restrooms, as well as improving mortar work and entry steps.





The center point of the proposal



School officials and Earl are making the rounds at each school site to educate staff on the proposals. At one recent visit, Earl told teachers the community cannot make the mistake of “equating facilities with education,” but the “kids and the teachers are the center point” of the proposal.

“We have an obligation to our community to provide the best education, teachers and facilities,” Earl said.

With a yes vote, Earl said, the community would position itself to have safe and progressive schools.