Howland schools to put 4.7-mill bond issue on ballot

Any new high school would be built on the grounds of the existing school.

STAFF REPORT

HOWLAND — The school board will ask voters for permission to borrow $43.7 million over 28 years to build a new high school and update other buildings.

The money would be borrowed through the sale of bonds. The board voted to put a 4.7-mill bond issue on the Nov. 4 general election.

If approved, it would cost property owners with a market valuation of $100,000 an additional $144 annually and those with properties valued at $175,000 an added $252.

The board took the action Monday, but had been saying for some time that it wanted a new high school because the existing one was built in 1949 and lacks the ability to accommodate needed technology. It also lacks an auditorium.

Superintendent John Sheets said that the board wants technology upgrades in all the other buildings as well.

If the building budget allows, the board also wants additions to H.C. Mines and North Road intermediate schools because they utilize some trailers as classrooms.

The use of the trailers at Mines and North Road might be resolved if enrollment decreases, Sheets added.

The state will not help with the costs of the new school.

“We’re on our own,” Sheets said of the lack of state financial help.

The board has already decided that a new school would be built on the grounds of the existing high school, because it’s centrally located off East Market Street.

If the issue passes, Sheets said, it will take one year to 18 months to design. It would be open in the spring 2010.

yovich@vindy.com