Heading into Tuesday’s bond election, USD 244 Burlington Superintendent Craig Marshall felt confident district patrons would be agreeable to a $45 million bond package to build a new elementary school near Burlington Middle School and Burlington High.
That changed after the polls closed.
Voters were asked to approve a 15-year bond that could have raised the levy by 7.2 mills. They rejected the idea by a nearly 3-to-1 margin — 793 votes against the bond and 305 for it.
Marshall declined a taped interview with KVOE News shortly after the vote count finalized Tuesday, but he says interested patrons seemed to understand the need for a new elementary as part of three open-house town halls held earlier this year and he says he “felt good about the feedback.”
The district had been considering a new building or a full-blown renovation of the elementary for at least 14 months before deciding on a new school, with Marshall saying the current space at 706 Niagara doesn’t allow the district to return fifth-graders into an elementary setting, which the board believes is a better learning environment for that grade than the current setup of having them at the middle school. Marshall also says the district needs to expand the cafeteria and food prep areas, move the main entrance and find ways to improve both the parking and traffic flow. Marshall also says the school building is very close to Coffey County’s new law enforcement center and nearly-100-bed jail. He expects the renovation cost to be around $20 million.
As to next steps, those are to be determined. Marshall says the school board will meet Monday, although he does not expect any decision on future direction at that time.
