By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Russell USD 407 school district voters will decide on Tuesday, March 3, on a $13.5 million bond issue.
However, the community has been hotly debating the proposal, with some opposed to an increase in property taxes.
The bond funds would be used to renovate Simpson and Bickerdyke elementary schools and Russell Junior/Senior High School.
The bond calls for $1.7 million to be used at Simpson Elementary for a new music room that will double as a storm shelter, structural repairs to flooring and improvements to make the school compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The floor repairs are being made in modular units, which are about 30 years old. Jordan Perez, USD 407 superintendent, said you can hear a thud when you step into those units.
The bond would pay for $7.7 million in improvements at Bickerdyke Elementary, including new commons that would double as a storm shelter, upgrading cooling, pumping, and electrical systems, accessibility improvements, and a remodel to provide a hallway to the new addition.
Perez said Bickerdyke has had plumbing issues for some time. There have been a couple of instances in which the school had to shut down restrooms and had only one or two functioning for the whole school.
"Which you can imagine trying to send 270 students to one or two different bathrooms," he said.
Bickerdyke does not have central air conditioning. The building is cooled with window units, which Perez said are neither energy-efficient nor quiet.
"We had a board meeting here at the district office this summer, and one of the board members complained they couldn't hear because of the window units, so we turned them off. Then, five minutes later, the board members were saying they were hot," Perez said.
"I joked and said, 'Now you know what our teachers experience in the classroom,'" he said. "Do you want your students to be comfortable or do you want them to be able to hear the content?"
Bikerdyke has a wheelchair lift. However, it takes 14 minutes to move an individual in a wheelchair between levels.
"Our specials classes—music, art, PE, things students may love—if it takes 14 minutes to get from the top to the bottom, they miss over half the instruction for those classes," Perez said.
Neither of the elementary schools has storm shelters. The children have to shelter in the hallways.
"As a parent, not just as superintendent, that makes me extremely nervous," Perez said.
At the high school, $13.5 million would be used for plumbing repairs, a controlled entrance remodel, air conditioning in the main gym and accessibility improvements.
The men's restroom outside of the gym had to be shut down during both the school's basketball and wrestling tournaments, Perez said.
Students who use wheelchairs must use the high school gym entrance. The main entrance is not accessible because of the stairs.
The bond would be repaid over 20 years, resulting in a 12-mill increase in the property tax levy.
On a $100,000 home, that would be about $138 per year or $11.50 per month. The median home price in Russell is $106,000.
"I think a lot of people don't understand school finance," Perez said. "Some people think that the schools need to fix these problems because these are the school's problems, and they don't understand that you can't tackle $13.5 million projects out of the capital budget."
The district levies the maximum allowable capital outlay mill levy of 8 mills. That brings in about $665,000. With state aid, the fund receives about $800,000 annually. However, Perez said the district also has to fund vehicle costs, technology purchases and routine maintenance out of that fund.
The district will also soon need to returf its football field and resurface its track, which alone will cost one year's worth of capital outlay funding.
Jeff McQuade, a Russell County business owner, said residents can't afford the increase in property taxes now.
"Things have slowed down really hard in the ag industry," McQuade said.
The local co-op, United Ag Service out of Gorham, went bankrupt, leaving local farmers without dividends or investments.
Justin Schwien, a fourth-generation farmer in Russell County, said his father alone lost $70,000 when the co-op closed.
Schwien said he was concerned about the increase in property taxes on his family's land.
"The farming community is in big, big trouble with drought and commodity prices," Schwien said. "We've been working the last three to four years at break-even or in the red."
"Property taxes on buildings and land itself are outrageous," he said. ... "Another hit, we just can't take it."
He added, "The whole community is hanging on by a thread. The oil community isn't much better. We just can't afford it."
Schwien acknowledged the plumbing issues needed to be repaired.
However, he said he thought three-quarters of the improvements included in the bond issue were "luxuries." He specifically cited the teacher's lounge and the air-conditioning in the high school gym.
McQuade said he would like to see improvements funded by a sales tax, so people coming through Russell on the interstate would help fund them and lessen the burden on local taxpayers.
"Our property taxes in Russell are insane," he said.
Mike Lohrmeyer, a retired homeowner, said he thought the school district should pursue donations to make some of the school improvements.
He, too, said he was very concerned about the overall property tax rate in Russell County.
He also thought the district should repair the issues from its capital outlay fund.
The Russell school district has had three previous failed bond attempts in April and November 2019 and in November 2025.
The bond the district brought back the same package proposed in 2025.
Perez said after a community meeting, the district determined, with input from the public, the bond package and amount should remain the same, but the district should do a better job of communicating information about the project and the school's needs.
"They focused on a bond package that was going to be less than $15 million. They thought that was the threshold that could be supported without being a financial burden on all community members," Perez said.
"They looked at each building and what absolutely needed to happen for safety and security, and they focused on those issues," he said.
Perez said he thought the bond package that is being presented is a compromise.
"There is no way to tailor it to everyone's individual preference," he said. "What they focused on was the needs. There's nothing pretty or glamorous about the work that is going to be done."
McQuade and some other opponents of the bond said they are frustrated that the school district is proposing the same bond that failed only months before.
The vote is costing about $10,000. Opponents argue another try for the same bond is a waste of taxpayer money.
Perez said if the bond fails, the district will still need to invest money in repairs at Bickerdyke and the high school to at least address the plumbing issues.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 3.
Early voting is available at the Russell County Election Office during regular business hours, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., until noon on Monday, March 2.