Published: December 06, 2007 12:09 am            

Longfellow gets ready to receive improvements

This is the 12th in a series looking at projects included in an Enid Public Schools bond issue election Tuesday. The series continues through Sunday. Anyone wishing to submit questions about the proposal can e-mail them to trasp@enidnews.com.



Patience is a virtue Longfellow Junior High School’s principal has mastered over the last few years. It hasn’t been easy for Ron Few to see so many improvements and renovations at other buildings while his aging school also is in need.

“It is very frustrating,” Few said. “You have to be a team player.”

His patience is about to pay off.

Longfellow is one of two Enid Public Schools sites that has seen little work so far funded through a 2003 bond issue. But that doesn’t mean the money isn’t coming.

Superintendent Kem Keithly said both Longfellow and Waller junior highs are scheduled for improvements funded by 2003 bonds during the 2009-10 school year.

The 2003 plan has progressed in phases for a couple of reasons.

First, the projects are part of a phased plan because the district’s bonding capacity isn’t large enough to fund all the projects at once, administrators said. State law requires a district’s bonded indebtedness to be no more than 10 percent of its net-assessed valuation. Assessed valuation is the value established for property and used as a basis for assessing property taxes.

Secondly, when the 2003 bond issue was approved, administrators had designed the plan around improving schools serving Vance Air Force Base to put the city and Vance in a better position before the May 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission decision was made to close military installations nationwide.

“We weren’t in that high-need area,” Few said recently.

But the school has seen some improvements. New steps were built on the east side of the school, and a new handicapped accessible entrance was installed at the north entrance of the building.

Few knows funding to renovate the school is on its way, thanks to voters who approved millions in improvements in 2003.



How it all began



In 2001, Enid schools and patrons began the process to provide local students with renovated buildings. Voters in 2003 approved a comprehensive long-range facility plan for all Enid Public Schools sites.

Voters also endorsed transportation and technology upgrades.

As part of the 2003 measure, Longfellow will see upgrades to sidewalks, stairs, exterior, interior and general work all around the building. The most significant improvement slated for 2010 is installation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and new windows. Those improvements would rid the school of its unsightly and noisy window air conditioning units.

The school is heated by a boiler system and is “very inadequate. We either freeze or burn up,” Few said.

The school also will receive a paved parking area across the street from the school on the northeast corner.

Few said the school also will receive new floor coverings, intercom system, lighting, ceilings and fencing.

Public school districts can spend only bond issue funds on projects for which they are intended and approved. Bond issue funds can’t be used for operational expenses.

Todd Earl, a local businessman is chairman of the campaign for the 2003 measure and the current measure.

“We have completed $17.6 million in facility improvements, and we are in the process of completing another $4.85 million,” Earl said. “The improvements have made a tremendous difference for our students and our community.”



What the future holds ...



While funding for Longfellow’s improvements already has been set aside, the school will receive a portion of the proceeds of the current measure on Tuesday’s ballot.

Longfellow will receive a portion of the technology improvements slated across the district. Those improvements consist of new equipment and upgrades, including interactive white boards.

Other schools around the district still are in need of improvements.

If approved Dec. 11, those bond funds will allow the school district to start on the rest of a list of needs not included in the first round of proposals because there was not enough bonding capacity and because of skyrocketing building and material costs over the last couple of years.

Two EPS bond propositions are on Tuesday’s ballot.

If passed, the $11.5 million measures would increase property taxes by 3.9 percent. For example, someone who pays $500 in property taxes annually would see an in-crease 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.

Needs the district is asking voters to address Tuesday include a new Garfield Elementary School, which totals about $3.4 million; continued renovations at Coolidge, Monroe, Taft and Glenwood elementary schools and Emerson Junior High and Enid High, totaling about $1.16 million; exterior renovations at multiple sites around the district, totaling about $307,000; and ongoing technology and transportation needs.



At the polls



Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Voters also may vote by absentee ballot at the Garfield County Election Board from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday or Monday.