Voters support bond proposals in five area school districts

As Shawnee continues to recover from last April’s tornado, voters there on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a 10-year, $39.5 million school bond proposal to help the school district rebuild facilities damaged by the storm.

Meanwhile, across the Oklahoma City metropolitan area in Piedmont, voters said yes to an 11-year, $113 million school bond proposal, the largest in the history of the fast-growing district that spans parts of Oklahoma, Canadian and Kingfisher counties.

Three smaller districts – Coyle, Prague and Luther – also had voters approve bond proposals after all three had previous proposals rejected within the past year. Luther voters approved a bond proposal for the first time since 2012. Bond proposals require 60 percent approval from voters to pass.

In Shawnee, the April 19, 2023, tornado damaged some school-district facilities, including those used by the wrestling and tennis teams, as well as those that served agriculture classes and band classes. The tornado also damaged the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems at multiple school sites. Insurance money covered some expenses wrought by the storm but not all, district Superintendent Aaron Espolt said.

Shawnee voters approved two propositions Tuesday. The first was for a $39.5 million bond, the proceeds from which will provide for a rebuild of the Stucker Complex (the wrestling facility) that will include a safe room, help cover some noninsured costs for replacing HVAC units and pay for the district to restore the tennis facility and build a new agriculture facility. It also will pay for new band uniforms and marching band storage adjacent to Jim Thorpe Stadium, the district’s football facility. That proposal passed with 83.9 percent of the vote out of 1,521 ballots cast.

The second proposition provided for renovations and improvements at the district’s five elementary schools by reallocating $8.1 million from a 2016 bond issue. The 2016 bond money had been earmarked to build a new elementary school that the Pottawatomie County district says now is no longer needed. Voters approved that idea by an even wider margin, with 84.5 percent voting yes out of 1,520 ballots cast.

Shawnee’s last two bond proposals, in 2019 and 2020, both failed, so the wide margins of passage were especially gratifying, Espolt said.

“When we sent this proposal across the community, we said that the tornado gave us an opportunity to pause and reflect and evaluate the direction of the school district,” Espolt told The Oklahoman. “We promised two things, to set a long-term vision and be a good steward of taxpayer dollars. There’s nothing in (the bond) that wasn’t needed. We are grateful for the support of the community.”

Growing district of Piedmont will receive two new school buildings

The Piedmont school district had only 1,400 students in 2001 but now serves more than 4,500 students, with a projected growth of up to 8,000 students within the next 10 years, according to a growth-potential study done by Zonda, a real estate research firm in Dallas.

The money from the bond approved Tuesday will pay for the construction of a new intermediate school and a new elementary school. The district also plans to build safe rooms that double as classrooms at one elementary school, add playgrounds and artificial turf at all its elementary school sites, replace updated band instruments, buy a new band truck and trailer, buy new school buses, address deferred maintenance needs and expand the bleachers at the district’s football stadium, among other items.

Piedmont voters also voted on two propositions. The first, which included all but the transportation portions of the bond, received 81.25% approval of 2,522 votes cast. The second, covering the transportation items, received 81.5% approval of 2,545 votes cast.

"With a community that supports us at an 80-percent clip, we can do anything," Piedmont Superintendent Drew Eichelberger said. "When you build a great school community and a district that does good things for kids, people will come to that. That’s what we’ve seen. People are building houses out here left and right. These two new buildings will get us a little past even. We're growing fast enough, about 275 kids a year and growing, and if you do that every year, it just takes a couple of years of that to need a new school."

Bond proposals also pass in smaller districts that had rejected previous attempts

Three other metro-area districts voted on bond proposals Tuesday:

? After voters rejected two proposals totaling nearly $30 million last October, Coyle Public Schools in Logan County saw a $1.44 million proposal pass with 68.5 percent of the vote, with 235 votes for and 108 against. Bond money will help pay for renovation of the school cafeteria, improvements and upgrades at the district’s high school and elementary school, roofing improvements, demolition of old or unusable building space, locker rooms and halls, and site work.

? Prague Public Schools in Lincoln County had a $22.41 million bond proposal fail last April, but on Tuesday, a $28.33 million proposal centered around what essentially would be construction of a new high school building barely passed, receiving 60.5 percent of the vote (563 votes for and 367 votes against). With the bond money, two wings of the existing building will be demolished, with a third wing and the exterior of the remaining portions of the existing building each will receive a major renovation. The new school will include additional furniture, fixtures and equipment.

? For more than a decade, Luther Public Schools voters had turned away bond proposals from the district, but the $28.6 million package on Tuesday prevailed with 69.1 percent of the vote (521 for, 233 against). The current proposal will include a new middle school safe room and cafeteria, a new elementary school media center safe room addition, a new pre-kindergarten safe room addition, and other additions and renovations, including some for the middle school cafeteria. Voters in the eastern Oklahoma County district had shot down a $43 million proposal in September.

Unofficial election results on Coyle schools bond:? Yes: 235 (68.5%)? No: 108 (51.5%)

Unofficial election results on Luther schools bond:? Yes: 521 (69.1%)? No: 233 (30.1%)

Unofficial election results on Piedmont schools bond (Proposition 1):? Yes: 2,049 (81.2%)? No: 473 (18.8%)

Unofficial election results on Piedmont schools bond (Proposition 2):? Yes: 2,074 (81.5%)? No: 471 (18.5%)

Unofficial election results on Prague schools bond:? Yes: 563 (60.5%)? No: 367 (39.5%)

Unofficial election results on Shawnee schools bond (Proposition 1):? Yes: 1,276 (83.9%)? No: 245 (16.1%)

Unofficial election results on Shawnee schools bond (Proposition 2):? Yes: 1,285 (84.5%)? No: 235 (15.5%)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Shawnee, Piedmont among school districts receiving bond approval