School board passes bond, sends to voters in May election
Karen Peterson
Superintendent Jason Sargent plans to visit with as many people as possible to explain the school’s needs in relation to the bond before the election.
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ST. IGNATIUS – Before a school improvement bond can be presented to voters in May, it needed to be approved by the Mission School Board.
Board members voted unanimously to approve the bond issue during the regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 16.
The bond at $5.2 million would be spread out over 20 years and would increase taxes for property owners in the Mission School District, including outside of the town limits, by $147 a year on a $100,000 home.
The money would be used to build a new gym to give students more practice space along with a weight room. The aging locker rooms would be replaced. New bathrooms would be built. The elementary school would receive structural repairs, and a new shop would be built to give students more academic opportunities. The school also has a long list of deferred maintenance projects concerning health and safety issues.
Superintendent Jason Sargent said the school is in desperate need of repair after putting off many projects. He added that it has become a trend for rural schools to be forced to ask taxpayers to help fit an additional tax bill through bonds due to a lack of funding.
“The state is not going to help us with facilities, that much we know,” he said.
School officials have tried to avoid asking for a bond in the past.
“We haven’t asked for additional taxes for 30 years,” he said. “What has brought us to this point is a number of deficiencies found by a state inspection team.”
Sargent is able to hire Slate Architecture from Helena as the design team to help develop the plans for the project now that the board has voted to approve the bond for the election. He also plans to apply for grants to help offset the cost of the project, and he wants to utilize local banking resources.
“I think that we have the very best school,” he said of the students and staff. “It’s important to follow up with good facilities.”
In other news, the board approved to allow a company called KaBOOM! to provide most of the needed funding for the second phase of the school’s elementary playground project. The school has to do several things, like soil tests at the site, before the funding is dispersed.
The school’s yearly calendar was approved at the meeting with two additional school days and various 12:30 p.m. dismissal times removed from the schedule, which creates 1,109 hours of instruction time for students.
“Teachers felt that it was important to have additional time with their students,” Superintendent Sargent said of the decision. The extra hours will cost the school $11,310, although teachers were already required to be at the school during those times. They used the early dismissal days for training and staff meetings in the past.
St. Ignatius Federation of Teachers President Tim Marchant reported to the board that the teachers would like to purchase supplies for first aid kits for each classroom out of the federation funds. Marchant said the federation was looking into options.
The school received an annual audit report with a few minor issues. The board approved to solve those problems that included dual controls on accounts and additional time log reports for grant-funded employees.
The board accepted special education teacher Deb White’s resignation for the end of the school year. The school is advertising for three different positions for teachers of Spanish, math and art.
