USD 293 Bond Election Tuesday, Sept 6
Explanation of Bond
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Launch the media gallery 1 player - media #14USD-293 Bond Election Reminder
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All registered voters who reside within the USD-293 school district are eligible to vote.
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Early voting is still available today, Thursday, September 1st and Friday, September 2nd from 8:30 to 4:30 pm and on Monday, September 5th from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Gove County Offices, located at 520 Washington Street, in Gove, KS.
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Election day is Tuesday, September 6th. Voting for all precincts, including residents of Sheridan County, will occur at 920 Lincoln Street, (The Lincoln Building). Polls will be open for voting from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.
There is a special election for a bond to fund improvements to the Quinter Elementary and Junior high/High schools coming up on Tuesday, Sept 6. I wanted to take a few moments and summarize a few things in case you were not able to attend any of the public informational meetings; my goal here being simply to provide some facts for consideration. I will briefly review the proposed improvements for the elementary building and the junior high/high school building, and give a little more information regarding the bond in general.
Elementary school
New HVAC
New LED lighting
Much of the fluorescent lighting in classrooms is worn, resulting in occasionally flickering, etc.T This too, deters and distracts from student learning. This type of thing is not only annoying to teachers and students alike, but can be quite disruptive to a student who struggles with sensory issues.
New art room and new media center (library)/storm shelter
The new art room and library would be built as new construction on the current building. The art room and the library are now on the 2nd floor of the building.The new plan would allow the younger students (preschool-4th grade) to stay on the ground floor. The new library would double as a storm shelter and would be constructed as such. Currently, the “storm shelter” is the restroom hallways. The new art room would allow for a more adequate space for art projects, and would free up additional classroom space where it is currently located.
Expansion of the cafeteria
The cafeteria space is quite small, and the meal prep area in the cafeteria is no larger than a modest home kitchen; the space is so inadequate that the dishwashing machines are in the main part of the cafeteria where the children eat. This is frowned upon from a health inspection standpoint, and also produces extra noise in the cafeteria. A larger cafeteria space would facilitate meal prep as well as expanding the dining area, allowing for 3 lunch shifts rather than the currently needed 4 lunch shifts.
New roof, new windows
There is water damage throughout the school, most notably on the gymnasium ceiling. New windows would be more energy efficient, and improve the aesthetic of the school both from the outside, and provide nicer views from inside. Much of the current window areas are hazy square block windows, minimizing an actual view outside.
Interior Lift, improved disability access
Currently there is no lift or elevator in the building. If a student or teacher is on crutches or in a wheelchair, this presents a major issue if their classroom is on the second floor. An interior lift is an affordable alternative to a full elevator. Bathrooms would also be renovated to allow for more accessibility and more privacy; the stalls are quite small and the current restrooms utilize curtains rather than doors.
Junior High and High School building
ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Access in public areas of the building
The bond includes an addition to the front of the high school building that would allow a main entrance with a vestibule to access both gymnasiums and the auditorium. This area would include ADA accessible restrooms and an area for concessions, such that concessions would now be separate from the lunch cafeteria. Our current public use restrooms near the gymnasiums are not adequate from an ADA standpoint. If the bond passes, the current restrooms would be renovated to provide family restrooms.
HVAC in the gymnasiums
We invite you to the upcoming volleyball games to experience why air conditioning in the gyms would be a valuable improvement. Improving comfort in these public use areas makes things more pleasant for participants and spectators alike. We are asking you to invest in our schools, and we want you to benefit from some of these improvements as well!
New bleachers in the varsity and JV gymnasiums
The only reason you have not noticed this is a problem is because you’re not the one who has to set them up and put them away. While it may not be obvious when you are sitting on them, there are areas that are worn out and broken. This not only creates a challenge for staff to get the gym ready for spectators each time there is a game; it will increasingly become a safety issue if not addressed. If we do not take care of our gymnasium facilities and public use areas, we won’t be able to continue to host events such as the Castle Rock Classic basketball tournament. Events such as this bring people here to Quinter where they buy gas, they buy dinner, they run to the store, etc.
Auditorium addition/remodel
The auditorium is used by the community as well as the school. Many of the seats are showing significant wear and tear, and seating for music concerts often fills up. The bond would allow for additional seating and updates to this facility so our community can continue to enjoy concerts, recitals and plays.
New track
The track has many cracks and areas that have become uneven. The school has continued to patch the track to continue to be able to use it, but the repairs are costly and temporary. If we do not replace the track, it will wear out, and ultimately the kids would be running on a dirt or gravel track. KSHSAA will not allow meets to be held on that type of surface, so the three school track meets we host each spring would cease to exist. We would not be able to host the youth track meet either. These events bring hundreds of folks to Quinter, in turn contributing to our local economy.
New home and visitor bleachers at track/football field
The current visitor bleachers are nearly falling apart. They will need to be removed for safety reasons in the near future, and if we don’t replace them, we just won’t have visitors bleachers. While the home bleachers are not as unsafe as the visitor bleachers currently, they are well worn and will become more problematic with time. New home bleachers would be made of aluminum instead of wood and would be ADA accessible.
Restrooms/concessions at the track/football field
This would prevent the public from entering the school building unnecessarily, which would increase security of the building. It would also again increase accessibility to facilities for spectators. If the bond passes, we hope to combine these facilities with an expansion of the Ag/shop facilities as well.
The scope of this bond came about through the input of the facilities committee (which was formed in 2019 to allow input from the community regarding what we want for our school facilities over the next 25-50 years), the school board, and from responses to a survey sent out to all registered voters in the district last spring. The committee and the board took the responses from that survey very seriously, and we incorporated what was most widely supported by those who responded to the survey, what issues were most pertinent to students/teachers/staff, and what made the most sense over the course of the next 25-50 years.
We chose to hold a special election rather than place this issue on the primary ballot or the general election ballot for a simple reason. Those elections are NOT just about Quinter. Those elections include a broad scope of candidates and issues, and we really want everyone who is voting on this issue to know EXACTLY what they are voting for and why. So it will be 2 simple questions.
1) Do you vote in favor of the $15.4M bond to improve Quinter school facilities?
2) Do you approve a 1% sales tax to help pay for the bond?
The thought process behind the sales tax to help pay for the bond is to alleviate some of the burden on our community, as those who are coming from out of town to enjoy our school facilities can help us pay for it when they buy gas, food, etc; as can the general I-70 traveler.
A small town is sustained by its school. We all want Quinter to thrive, and to be in a position to do so, our school facilities need our attention. Do we want young families to choose Quinter as their home? The facilities matter. Do we want to feed our local economy by hosting area events at the school? The facilities matter. Do we want to recruit and maintain wonderful teachers? The facilities matter.
If you have any questions please contact a USD 293 school board member, Kurt Brown (superintendent), or Toby Countryman (high school principal). We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to seriously consider this matter!
Stacey Anstaett USD 293 Board Member
The special election concerning a $15.4 million for facility repairs and renovations will be held on September 6.