Circle school district preps $37 million bond proposal
Circle High School students may soon be taking classes in a $30 million building.
A new high school is targeted in a $37 million bond proposal for the Circle school district.
"The present high school has served the district well for 50 years, but we are seeing major electrical, mechanical and structural challenges that, through the work that was done with the committee over the year, they found the cost of renovation really exceeded that point at which it became cost effective," said Superintendent Jim Keller.
The supplemental gym and performing arts center at the current facility will be maintained if the proposal is approved.
"We just want to be able to offer our students a quality environment in which to work, because at the high school level right now, we're really overcrowded," Keller said.
The proposal also includes additional classroom space and a tornado shelter at Oil Hill Elementary. The Circle Towanda Intermediate School and Circle Benton Elementary gyms would also add air conditioning units.
Interest rates, currently estimated around 3.5 percent, are the lowest in the past 30 years, Keller said.
"If the community is in favor of a project like this, it would be an ideal time to pursue that," he said. "(The project committee has) been very careful in calculating our expenditures for this project, and we feel we can get the project done within this framework that we have set."
A mail-in ballot is set for Jan. 29. The deadline to register to vote on the proposal is Jan. 8.
Keller said the district will mail out additional information to district residents in the coming months.
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