In recent months, KVOE News has been focusing a great deal of attention on the ongoing plans for a bond initiative to significantly upgrade facilities at USD 251 North Lyon County. However, 251 is not the only area district in the midst of a bond process.
KVOE News recently reached out to USD 386 Madison/Virgil Superintendent Dalls Woolf, who says conversations on a potential bond project have been underway since last school year, his first a the helm of the district. Woolf says the discussions began because of observations he made early in his tenure leading the district.
Once the plumbing issue was identified, Woolf says they began compiling a list of major needs, and it filled up quickly.
Noting the district does a “great job” of maintaining their facilities, Woolf says there is no short-term solution for the impact of age and time. With that in mind, a long-term solution is needed and thus the district board has begun exploring the potential for a bond initiative, which has included a special meeting featuring input from DCS, the entity helping lead the 251 initiative, and the dissemination of a community survey regarding a bond’s potential.
Woolf tells KVOE News those results have been gathered and the feedback has been largely positive.
Woolf says there is a possibility the district may look to split the cost of the work between Capital Outlay dollars and a bond down the road, noting there are some projects that can be handled through capital dollars; however, the entirety cannot.
As for an exact cost estimate on the needed improvements, Woolf says they have and continue to send out requests for bids, but an exact total is not yet available. That said, he did note the recent survey did gauge community interest on a range of potential grant sums.
According to Woolf, more discussions on the potential bond matter will take place during the USD 386 Board of Education’s next regular meeting on Monday, October 11th. According to Woolf, the district’s junior/senior high school, the newest of the district’s school buildings, was originally constructed in 1981 while the elementary school was constructed in 1961, with many of the original appliances and fixtures still in place.
