- Why are bond issues necessary?
State law prohibits the use of general fund monies to build schools and take care of other capital expenditures such as media and technology needs. The general fund is for salaries, utilities and other recurring operating expenses. Bond issues allow the district to pay for new classrooms, buildings and the major repair and upkeep of existing facilities. Bond issues make it possible to keep up with the school’s growing enrollment and keep the district up-to-date with transportation, technology and security needs – all things that help make Mustang Public Schools one of the top districts in Oklahoma.
How will this bond issue impact the average voter?
According to our projections there will be no tax increase. In most cases, taxes actually go down as district property values grow. This bond issue will be sold in a series stretching over several years, keeping tax levels steady with no increase. As a district, we do everything we can to provide for the needs of our schools and their students while keeping tax levels steady to minimize the impact on the district’s taxpayers. The bonds will be sold in several series so that as an old bond goes off the tax roles, we can replace it with another one that has been approved at a school bond election.
- I thought our bonding capacity was under $30,000,000. How can the school call for a bond election for more than $50,000,000?
The Board of Education made a decision to go with a combination of lease revenue bonds and general obligation bonds. In the past, the district has only used general obligation bonds, which limits the district’s bonding capacity to 10 percent of its net assessed valuation. With revenue bonds, the district is able to have the equivalent of several bond elections at once. Construction can start sooner and be finished more quickly because the money is there, up front to complete the projects. Being able to finish the projects more quickly will save the district money in the long run by reducing the inflation costs of construction down the road. The use of revenue bonds is the only way the extensive work needed on Mustang High School could be completed.
- Have any other schools used lease revenue bonds?
Seventy-five Oklahoma schools have used lease revenue bonds successfully to complete construction and building projects.
- Why is this the first time Mustang Public Schools has used lease revenue bonds?
Mustang Public Schools wanted to evaluate how well the bonds worked for other districts. After studying their success at other schools, and hearing presentations of the pros and cons from the district’s bond advisor, MPS chose to utilize revenue bonds to meet construction demands and provide the best learning environment possible for our students.
- Why does this bond issue focus on Mustang High School?
For many years, Mustang Schools has been forced to focus bond issues on the immediate need of increasing capacity in the elementary schools to accommodate the ever-increasing student population. Because of increasing population and the age of the campus, we must now turn our attention to the needs of our high school students. Those growing populations are moving onto a high school campus where the age of the main buildings is more than 40 years old. JROTC and the automotive technology class are in a circa 1950s building that was the original district bus barn when Mustang had only five bus routes and a graduating class of less than 30 students. The projects included in the bond proposal would add a significant amount of new classroom space to the campus, improve existing space and dramatically increase security by joining the new and the existing buildings, including the six classroom buildings. There would be one primary entrance to all the classroom buildings and students would no longer be walking outside to reach their core classes.
- Is this bond issue just going to be a temporary solution for an aging and deteriorating high school campus?
No. This bond issue will reinvent Mustang High School, providing for the needs of the students and the growing student population. Plans include:
• a new commons area and cafeteria that will tie the entire campus together
• a new media center that will open onto the commons area
• adding additional classroom buildings and joining them to the primary classroom buildings, the new cafeteria and media center, which will dramatically increase security on the campus by creating one building out of many.
• additional parking
• updating existing buildings
- Why does Mustang High School need a new media center?
Mustang High School’s current media center was created by taking down a wall between two classrooms. It met the needs of the students when the district was a 3A school. Times have changed since the media center was added. Technology and the ability to gather information are paramount to student success. The current media center is secluded and too small for today’s demands. Classes are turned away from the media center’s computer access because the computers are booked four to five months in advance. The media center’s collection barely meets state minimums because is there no extra room for additional materials. The bond plans for MHS include the creation of a new media center opening onto a cafeteria and commons area. It would be the hub of the school and easily accessible, giving students better resources and more time to work on their projects.
- Why does MHS need a new cafeteria?
The current cafeteria started out as an elementary cafeteria back when almost all the students were on one campus from kindergarten through 12th grade. It has been expanded three times, which includes the addition of a separate dining area a few years ago. Besides limited seating, serving lines and traffic are limited by the layout and space. In a new cafeteria and commons area, priority would be given to efficiency, allowing students to get through lines more quickly, have more choices and more time to eat. With a large common area for eating, monitoring the area would be improved.
- Why didn’t the Board of Education choose to build a SECOND high school?
The Mustang administration would like to keep the high school unified, where the entire district comes together their final years of school. This is positive not only for the unity of the student body, but for the community as well. Having one high school is one of the things that makes Mustang special. Should a second high school be constructed, the current campus would still need these kinds of improvements to bring it into the 21st century.
- Why didn’t the Board vote to build a brand new high school and do something else with the current campus?
The Board of Education made a decision to honor the investment the community already has in the current campus. Although the high school needs an incredible amount of updating, additional classrooms, a new media center, cafeteria and a better layout, there are already many great things in place. Just a few years ago, the district opened the fine arts center behind the auditorium. A new health and wellness center will open in August 2009, which will provide more practice space for our athletic teams and programs, space for accommodating online testing in the future and more room for physical education classes. We have a new vocational-agricultural facility and softball and soccer locker rooms. There is a rich history of decades of graduates who have called Mustang High School home. In addition, if an entirely new campus were constructed, it would not eliminate the need for extensive work on the current campus before it could be used for something else.
- Why would the freshmen be moving out of the Mid-High and back onto the high school campus?
One piece of the plans call for moving the freshman into their own building on the high school campus. When Mustang Middle School was constructed in 1999, the freshmen were moved into the former middle school building to relieve the population pressure on the high school campus. Every hour of every school day, however, students are bused from the Mid-High to the high school for classes, taking valuable time away from instruction. This bond proposal would have a new building constructed on the Mustang High School campus exclusively for ninth graders. They would still have all their primary classes together, but would have easy access to all the resources and electives of Mustang High School. District administrators conducted a quality time analysis, which documented that a significant amount of instructional time is lost each day to transporting students between the two campuses. Freshmen would have more quality time in class and less on the road if they were at MHS.
- Who can vote?
Anyone who lives within the 69 square miles that make up the Mustang Public School District can vote. You don't have to have a child attending school. Voting takes place at your regular polling place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. To see a map of the district, go to www.mustangps.org.
On the ballot, you’ll see two propositions. By law transportation needs must be separate from the remainder of the bond issue. Proposition one is for $56,515,000 and includes everything but transportation. Proposition two, for $1,450,000, is for transportation.
- Why are media materials and technology in a bond issue?
While most spending from bond proceeds is on capital improvements like new classrooms, buildings and building maintenance, the law allows bond funds to be used to purchase media materials as well as technology equipment and software. If we did not have the ability to purchase these items with bond proceeds, the district’s general fund would have to be used. The general fund is the main operating budget for the district. The majority of the general fund is spent on personnel costs. The general fund cannot support the purchases necessary to keep Mustang Public Schools’ technology and media centers where they need to be.
- Why is transportation included?
Mustang Public Schools currently has more than 50 bus routes. As enrollment increases, more routes and buses will be necessary. Mustang Public Schools is seeing an increase of 150 to 300 students per year. Each bus travels approximately 45 miles a day. Between all the buses, that’s 2,000 miles of travel per day and nearly 400,000 miles per year. Buses that would be retired if the upcoming bond issue is passed have in excess of 100,000 miles on them. To maintain the safest and most reliable student transportation, it’s necessary to replace a few buses every year. Newer models are also more fuel-efficient and meet the latest regulations.
- Which schools benefit from this bond issue?
Each one of Mustang’s 11 school sites will benefit from this bond issue. Many of the roofs, floors and heating and air-conditioning equipment across the district are reaching the end of its useful life and must be replaced to maintain the integrity of the buildings.
Bond monies will be available district wide for things such as:
- Roof repair and replacement
- Security Equipment: Fire alarms, security cameras and more
- HVAC repair and replacement
- Flooring
- Fencing
- Paving improvements
- Athletic Equipment
- Band
- What will become of the old gym, which is now called the PE building?
One of Mustang High School’s oldest buildings will remain a part of the MHS campus. Gym space in a district this size is always valuable, and the PE gym is utilized a great deal by the community. It will be a piece of history preserved at Mustang Public Schools and a valuable part of the future of Mustang High School.
- How will we know what it will look like?
The architects are putting together an illustration that will show the vision for Mustang High School. These will be made available on this Web site for everyone to see as soon as possible.
|
