Hartley, Iowa — We’ve told you that backers of the bond issue in the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn School District hope the third time is the charm. The issue will go to the voters on Tuesday, April 4, 2017.
However, this time, school officials say there is a “Plan B”. At the last regular school board meeting, HMS Board President Scott Heetland stated that if the bond issue doesn’t pass this time, the school board’s consensus is that “a building will close.”
Specifics of the statement, such as which school building would close and where students would go instead were not available.
Due to prices going up, the new question to be put to the voters on Tuesday, April 4th, contains language about bonds not exceeding $16.5 million instead of last September’s amount of $16.25 million.
Officials say the plan is to build a new elementary school in Hartley, attached to the existing high school, with a separate entrance and a new playground; additions and renovations to the middle school in Sanborn, including a competitive gym; and renovations to the High School in Hartley, to add new wrestling and industrial tech spaces. They say that if the bond referendum passes, the overall school tax levy would increase by $1.55 per $1,000 of taxable valuation.
The construction plan this time is the same as it was the last time the issue went to voters in September, 2016.
