By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
ELLIS — The USD 388 Board of Education kicked off 2020 with potentially positive news Monday night as results from a survey commissioned to judge support for potential bond issue showed a majority of Ellis support passing at least some form of a bond.
If put to a ballot, this would be the third bond issue to be sent to voters since the bond that funded the building of Ellis High School ended in the late '90s.
During the presentation of the results, Docking Institute of Public Affairs Assistant Director Jian Sun told the board there is a good chance of a bond issue passing based on the survey results, which showed 74.8 percent of respondents would support a bond as high as $4 million.
Only 48.2 percent were found to support a bond as high as $5 million and only 24.5 percent would support a $7.5 million bond.
"These numbers look much more favorable than what we got back on the last (survey," said Jared Schiel, board president.
The survey was sent to all registered voters in Ellis from the most recent data available, and the institute reported 421 surveys were returned.
Along with dollar amounts, the survey asked respondents to rate their support for specific bond issue projects.
The survey found the replacement of HVAC systems, updating plumbing lines and fixtures, and roof repairs were highly supported.
In turn, respondents were not generally supportive of using a bond to add a daycare facility or program or replacing playground equipment at Washington Grade School.
"We are going to have to do a good job of selling what we need and what were are going to do with our $4 million," Schiel said.