USD 253 Emporia Public Schools will be holding their $78 million bond election, but not as originally scheduled.
Following two executive sessions during the Board of Education’s meeting Wednesday evening USD 253 Superintendent Kevin Case made the bombshell announcement the district would be delaying the Sept. 5 mail-in election.
Case says the delay will “allow the required information to be correctly published to ensure we follow statutory guidelines.” Case would not divulge the specifics of the “technical error” only stating it was discovered Wednesday, however, he feels “this shows who we are” saying the district wants to “do the right thing” and make sure the voters are as informed as possible in every aspect of the election.
Case concluded his statements Wednesday evening saying “Our focus remains with the 2019-2020 school year and the upcoming November election.”
Wednesday’s announcement came just hours before the registration deadline for the mail-in election was set to pass at 5 pm Thursday. Ballots originally were supposed to be mailed out Friday with the goal of reaching registered Emporia voters early next week.
The announcement also followed near-unanimous approval by the board on a recommendation from Superintendent Case to direct district administration to work collaboratively with HTK Architects to begin discussions on the process to include a new early learning facility as part of the district’s proposed $78 million bond issue. The direction follows a recommendation made by the early learning facilities task force at the board’s July 31st meeting for the construction of a new facility.
The recommendation did not gain unanimous approval, however, as board member Mike Crouch voted against the item leading to a 6-1 decision. Crouch made it clear his vote did not reflect his opinion of the building issue itself, saying he fully supports the construction of a new facility. Rather his reasoning stemmed from disapproval of wording within the recommendation regarding potential financing for the project.
One of the possible options included reprioritizing a small portion of the existing bond scope of work. Crouch feels as the board is nearing a bond election, the sudden change could have a negative effect on the district’s transparency.
Additional possible financing options — if the board were to approve the construction of a new facility — included utilizing capital outlay funds, seeking the support of local foundations, and soliciting financial support from other local partners who support early learning. Discussions will take place in the coming weeks with information being presented during the board’s upcoming meetings.
In other business, the board unanimously approved the 2019-2020 budget following a public hearing. The total budget is for $33 million with a mill levy of 53.738 which is a tenth of a mill decrease from 2018. This is also the tenth year for the district with a mill levy of 53 mills.
The USD 253 Board of Education will next meet Wednesday, Aug. 28 inside the Mary Herbert Education Center.
