As many of you are aware, our community will vote on May 12th regarding a bond for our school system. While there is information available to the public, the current situation connected to the COVID-19 pandemic has had a serious impact on educating our community on facts surrounding this issue. It is my hope that this brief write up will work to alleviate any misconceptions about what this bond is for, how it is funded, and why we need it.
Taxes are a major concern for all members of the community, as they should be. Our district is paying off the current bond from 20 years ago which gave us the new gymnasium, the science classrooms, and the cafeteria in the high school. It is our hope that we can institute a new bond which will give us added security to district facilities, additional space to serve an expanding population of students with diverse needs, and key infrastructure improvements such as updated plumbing in the high school. With the old bond ending and the new bond beginning, the mill levy to repay bonds will NOT INCREASE. We will continue to keep the same number of mills in place dedicated to repaying the bond for our district facilities. School districts in the state of Kansas can only use a small portion of their annual budget to fund facility improvements. Because of this, bond issues are required to pay for larger capital projects, specifically those outside the scope of traditional maintenance and minor facility upgrades. The proposed bond that we will be voting on was specifically designed to not cause the residents of Trego County to see any increase in their mill levy.
It is VITALLY important that every community member vote on May 12th. This bond issue is about taking care of important facility needs while not requiring any additional mills. Thank you for your continued support of our district personnel, students, and facilities. If you have any questions regarding the bond issue please contact our district superintendent, Mr. Tavis Desormiers at 785.743.2145. You may have to leave him a message as he is an incredibly busy individual, but he will get back to you very quickly.
Seth Kastle, USD 208 Board of Education