What to know about USD 435 bond special election

Apr. 17—The special election requested by the Abilene School District is tomorrow, April 18. The election will have one question, asking school district residents whether the district should issue bonds totaling $3 million over 12 years. The district wants the funds to remodel and renovate the Abilene High School science rooms.

The ballot question submitted to the county reads:

"Shall Unified School District No. 435, Dickinson County, Kansas (Abilene), issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $3,000,000, to pay the costs to: (a) construct, furnish and equip improvements, additions and renovations to Abilene High School, including Science areas and improvements to the third floor; (b) make all other necessary improvements appurtenant thereto (collectively the "Project"); and (c) pay costs of issuance and interest on the Bonds during construction of the Project; all pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 10-101 et seq., K.S.A. 25-2018(f), K.S.A. 72-5457, and K.S.A. 72-5458 et seq.?"

Project overview

The science classrooms and infrastructure has mostly stayed the same since they were first built in the mid 1950s, said Greg Brown, superintendent of USD 435.

What the $3 million bond will pay for is: — Equip all student lab stations with sinks and gas — Provide teacher demonstration tables — Reconfigure classrooms to accommodate more students in laboratory science classes — Provide ADA Accessible Restrooms, lab stations — Improve fire and chemical safety on the 3rd floor, including improving the fire barrier wall to current day fire codes. — Light remodeling in classrooms bordering the fire barrier wall

"One of the driving factors that our board has is, if we are going to do something, let's do it with excellence," Brown said.

The bond will not increase the mill levy for Abilene residents. The district finished paying off $4 million bonds, which funded middle school upgrades, at the beginning of this year. That and with some financial adjusting, the proposed bonds will require the same number of mills, 2.5, that the paid off bonds required.

"The district is currently levying 9.871 mills to repay the outstanding bonds," reads a document promoting the science department bonds on the Abilene School District website. "The new bond payments are being wrapped around existing bond payments in order to keep the mill levy rate from increasing. As a result of this approach, the mill levy used to repay the existing and proposed new bonds is projected to remain at 9.871 mills throughout the life of the bonds until the final payment in 2036."

The district will also receive financial aid from the state, equal to 11% of bonds and interest.

Community comments

Some Abilene residents have concerns about the project and paying for it with bonds. Rod Markley said he does not support the project because he does not want to be paying for more bonds with the other bonds the district is already paying off. The district had a bond indebtedness of $19,730,000 at the start of 2024, according to agenda documents from Kansas State Board of Education's February 14 meeting.

Markley also said he is concerned about the language of the ballot question. He believes the language is too open-ended, allowing the school to use the money for other means. Other residents are concerned the district will use some of the bond money to pay the bond debt of Cowboy Stadium, the high school's football stadium.

Brown said the question is worded the way it is because all but three rooms are part of the science department. Foreign language and language arts rooms will be affected because a fire barrier wall needs to be built around the science rooms adjacent to the non-science rooms.

"The need that we have for renovations are specialized for science instruction," Brown said. "You don't run gas lines into a regular classroom. You don't run enough plumbing to have six sinks in a regular classroom. Those kinds of things. So that's why it's worded the way it is, where 75% of that floor is science instruction space."

As for using the bonds to pay off the football field, Brown said, "Never. Never in any way, shape or form." Brown said the district pays Pinnacle Bank about $400,000 annually for the field's lease purchase, which the district is paying with no problems.

Markley also does not like that the district is paying for a special election when the primary election is four months away. The district has to pay Dickinson County to hold the special election. Brown said the district chose a special election so that the district would know the result before their 2024-2025 budget preparations. They also want to keep levying the same tax rate of 9.871 mills, as the district paid off the $4 million bond this year. The end of the district's fiscal year is June 30, which is before the primary election Aug. 6.

"We felt like it was best for the patrons to consider us now because what we are asking for is not increasing, but just leaving them level," Brown said. "If we were to go past our budget year, past July 1, then we're looking at increasing, so to speak, the mill rate because it would come down by the narrowest of margins."

Markley and another resident said they are also displeased that the district is staying above the bond debt limit for school districts. The bond debt limit, set by the Kansas State Department of Education, for all districts in Kansas is 14% of a district's assessed valuation. For example, the bond limit for USD 435 would be $15,494,466 since the district's valuation for 2024 is $110,674,755. Currently, USD 435 is at a bond debt of 17.8% of their valuation. If the new bonds are approved by the public, their bond limit would increase to 20.5%.

Dale Brungardt, director of school finance for the Kansas Department of Education, said school districts have to seek approval from the Kansas State Board of Education to ask the public for bonds that would exceed a district's bond debt limit. The state school board approved USD 435's request during their Feb. 14 meeting.

"It's (bond debt limit) like a flag that says, 'Hey whoa, if you're going to be doing this you need to notify the state,'" Brungardt said. "We need to notify. We need to find out if you are doing all the right procedures and processes, and then we'll hold a hearing on it and make sure that... you crossed all your t's and dotted your i's and you're good to go."

Benefits of project

Dennis Weese with the school district's Vote Yes Committee said now is the time for another bond issue because it is rare for an organization to promote a project and have the tax rate stay the same to fund the project.

"The debt and repayment management by the different school boards and executives there over the years I think has been very well done, as a business guy," Weese said.

While the teachers are currently able to provide a high quality education for students, Weese said, these well-established teachers have figured out how to keep providing high quality education despite the outdated or broken technology and equipment in the science department.

Looking at a larger picture, Weese said updating the science rooms is reinvesting into students and will encourage them to seek science-based careers in Kansas. Farming has become increasingly science based, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture opened up their National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Manhattan, Kansas, less than two years ago. Bringing the science department into the 21st century will create positive memories for students pursuing science as a career and aid them in earning jobs in the workforce.

"You can't be non-competitive and hope to win. Abilene has so many good things going on. We're winning a lot of these battles," Weese said. "We really are. For small town America, you and I talked about it, we still have a daily newspaper. We're winning battles that other towns are losing. This is a chance to get back down to where economic growth starts growing, and that is in your student population."

By battles won, Weese gave examples such as the new housing coming to Golden Belt Heights and the upcoming development Abilene Court and the new businesses that started due to the Community Foundation of Dickinson County's impact investing program.

Election

The special election asking residents if the Abilene School District should issue bonds totaling $3 million is April 18. Voting will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Residents can find out where to vote and more about the election at Dickinson County's website at www.dkcoks.gov/172/Elections. For updates follow Dickinson County at their Facebook page.