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Bond issue goes to vote Tuesday [The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa :: ]
[September 07, 2014]

Bond issue goes to vote Tuesday [The Hawk Eye, Burlington, Iowa :: ]


(Hawk Eye, The (Burlington, IA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 07--MOUNT PLEASANT -- Only 165 people voted in Mount Pleasant's last school board election, according to Henry County Auditor Shelly Barber.

The school district's $16.9 million bond issue has attracted some attention.

More than 500 absentee votes were cast as of Friday, Barber said, including more than 100 Friday.

The election is Tuesday.

To vote for or against the bond issue, voters must live in the school district. Absentee voting ends at 5 p.m. Monday.

The proposed bond issue will upgrade the district's four elementary schools and its technology needs. The elementary schools will be air-conditioned, there will be security and playground enhancements along with new parking at all four locations. Technology upgrades would include updated servers and devices.



The maximum debt limit for the district is $2.70 per $1,000 of taxable value.

Voting for or against the bond issue has split the district. On one side is the Save Our School committee, which is opposed to the bond. Its spokesman, Brian Roth, said, "We're not making anything up." "There are better plans that could be designed to solve the needs of our school district," he said Friday. "We feel there are ways to do some of the projects with the reserve money that they have, and we've studied this, and they have the money." "If air conditioning is their No. 1 priority, that can be done without a bond issue." Roth said his group believes the question isn't specific enough and doesn't break down where the money will be spent.


"All the question talks about was that they could spend that money on the elementary schools in a broad sense," he said. "But it's not specific." A lack of confidence in the school board keeps SOS concerned.

"There's no trust about how the money will actually be spent, it's not defined," Roth said. "They haven't decided whether they'll use geothermal or air conditioning. Well, how can you bond on a project if you don't know which one you'll use? Are we borrowing more money than we really need?" The question on the ballot reads: "Shall the board of directors of the Mount Pleasant Community School District in the counties of Henry, Jefferson, Lee and Van Buren, state of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $16,900,000 to provide funds to build, furnish and equip additions to and to remodel, repair and improve its existing elementary buildings and sites, including HVAC and related improvements; and to make technology improvements to the existing building, including technology equipment?" Dave Helman of the Our Kids -- Our Future committee supports the bond issue. Helman and his group think it's time to invest in the elementary schools. His group realizes issues between the school board and superintendent need to be addressed but said that's not the committee's function. Committee members want to take care of schools for their kids.

"Those reserve funds have specific tasks, and you can't take them for capital improvements," Helman said. "We've had to address this issue of promoting distrust on the part of the board because of the bond language. Well, it's clear. It very clearly reads 'existing elementary schools and technology in existing district buildings.' " Helman said he hasn't been shown a single example where any board, anywhere in the state has violated the bond language.

"But when they toss that out, it confuses people," he said. "So when you say, 'We can't trust them to do it,' it's deceitful." Take a drive around the Midwest, Helman challenged, and visit towns that are prospering.

"Look at their schools, look at the schools that have done the one-to-one technology and invested in them," he said. "We're arguing about this air conditioning like it's a new phenomenon when most districts addressed this years ago.

"We can't speak proudly of the condition of our elementary schools relative to other communities, and we want to," Helman said. "And the way to do that is to invest in them." Voting opens at 7 a.m. Tuesday and ends at 8 p.m. Polls are open in the Cottrell Gym wrestling room in Mount Pleasant and the Salem Community Center in Salem.

___ (c)2014 The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) Visit The Hawk Eye (Burlington, Iowa) at www.thehawkeye.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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