By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board discussed the five-year capital outlay plan during its work session on Monday.
Superintendent Ron Wilson said although the district has made significant investments in the bond, there are still regular capital needs and maintenance that will need to continue.
Wilson explained that the plan is revised frequently as needs change.
The district has an annual 8-mill capital improvement levy. The three-year revenue average is $4.7 million.
Chris Hipp, assistant superintendent of business services, said the district must keep reserves in the capital outlay fund. It can't spend the fund to zero.
The district receives half of its funding at the beginning of the year and the rest halfway through the fiscal year. The district must maintain cash on hand to continue paying lease payments and other expenses.
Hipp said of the five-year plan, "This is not a budget. It's an outlook and a map."
The district has three lease purchase agreements that it will continue to pay on through fiscal year 2029. These include Early Childhood Complex Renovation, which will be paid off in 2029, Roosevelt HVAC, and a lease agreement for turf, lighting, and past work at Wilson Elementary School.
The plan's operations line items include transportation and the annual technology replacement program.
The district contracted with Enterprise last fall to manage its nonbus vehicle fleet. The fleet contract is budgeted at $125,000 for the upcoming fiscal year, with an estimated $295,000 in subsequent years.
Bus replacement is also on a rotation, but on a separate line item.
The district also has listed priorities broken down by building.
O'Loughlin Elementary School is undergoing a renovation and expansion as part of the bond projects.
From the capital outlay fund, the district has budgeted $45,000 for the removal of asbestos flooring from the building, $100,000 for furniture and equipment for fiscal year 2026 and $220,000 to replace the school's parking lot in FY27.
Students and teachers are set to move into the renovated school in January.
HMS projects in the 2026 capital budget include:
• Classroom/bathroom renovation-$200,000
• Grandstands and fencing at game field-$160,000
• Parking lot-$120,000
• Furniture and equipment-$120,000
The fiscal year '27 budget includes roof work and further classroom renovations, with even more classroom renovations in FY28. The district is also planning on parking lot work at that location in FY28 and FY29.
Work will begin in January to renovate what is now Hays Middle School into a new four-section elementary school, Felten Elementary School.
Wilson is set to close as an elementary school at the end of the school year.
Although $3.8 million in bond funds has been budgeted for the Felten renovations, additional work at the school will be funded with capital outlay money.
The following projects will be funded out of the FY26 capital outlay budget:
• Asbestos removal-$175,000
• Signage update-$50,000
• Classroom renovation-$50,000
• Furniture and equipment-$300,000. Some of this funding will be used to add storage in classrooms.
• Playground relocation upgrades-$150,000
• Change football field to buffalo grass-$10,000. The grass change is being made to eliminate the need to water that field, Wilson said.
Once Wilson is vacated as an elementary school, the district offices will move into that building.
The district has budgeted $750,000 in 2027 and 2028 to renovate the former classrooms into offices. An additional $150,000 is budgeted in FY27 to equip a new boardroom in that building with audio and visual capabilities.
The district has budgeted $90,000 for grass seeding around the new Hays High building this year.
Wilson said the district hopes to eventually add another storage building on the Hays High grounds, but the project may be moved if other needs arise.
The board discussed adding bleachers to the Hays High football stadium. The stadium was built for 2,500, but crowds have been exceptionally large this season, with attendance estimates as high as 5,000.
Wilson said additional bleachers are not included in the capital outlay plan at this time.
The district is considering selling property north of the current Hays Middle School football field. The district also plans to sell the Rockwell property once all of the bond projects are complete.
The school board will make the final decision on the properties' fate. The revenue from the sale of property would be placed in the capital outlay fund.
Wilson said if the district had additional revenue from property sales, it could be used to fund bleachers.
The turf on the new fields at the high school will need to be replaced in the next 10 years, and Wilson said administrators will begin working on a schedule to work that maintenance into the capital outlay plan.