A school bond is a voter-approved funding method that allows a school district to make major, long-term improvements to school facilities that cannot be paid for through the district’s annual operating budget. Bonds are used for projects like improving safety and security, replacing outdated classrooms, upgrading infrastructure, and creating modern learning and career training spaces. Without a bond, the district must continue relying on temporary solutions that do not address long-term facility needs.

A bond can only be used to pay for capital improvements—like building renovations, new construction, safety upgrades, and major facility repairs. By law, bond funds cannot be used for teacher or staff salaries, classroom supplies, or everyday operational expenses like utilities or transportation.

While the bond doesn’t go directly toward salaries, investing in updated, well-maintained facilities helps create a more positive and professional environment—which can make it easier to attract and retain high-quality teachers and staff. In today’s educational competitive landscape, modern, safe, and functional learning spaces are a key factor in where educators choose to work.

Additionally, by addressing issues in aging buildings now, the bond helps reduce long-term maintenance and repair costs, allowing the district to be more efficient with its regular operating budget in the future. Upgraded facilities also support better energy efficiency and improved learning environments for students.

USD 417 schools have growing safety, space, and infrastructure challenges that cannot be solved through routine maintenance. Some elementary students still learn in portable classrooms, drop-off and pick-up areas create safety concerns, and many classrooms across the district are undersized and outdated. At the junior/senior high school, aging facilities limit modern instruction and career and technical education opportunities. This bond focuses on district-wide safety improvements, flexible and future-ready classrooms, and expanded career and tech education spaces that better prepare students for today’s learning environment and tomorrow’s workforce.

To achieve a similar learning environment and upgrade the old high school would have cost over $36  million dollars. It would also not improve the circulation and supervision issues that the new plan provides. 

This should not be confused with the amounts shown on the School Board presentation and Community Meetings. Those options were intended to keep a budget at $31 million. It did not include fixing everything in the old high school because that could not fit into the $31 million dollar budget.

A good school is critical to the future of our community. Good schools are an investment in the future of our community. Our schools educate the future workforce and help provide the skills needed in our community for professions such as healthcare, trades and farming. 

One of the first things people look at when they are moving to a new area is the school system. People want to see what kind of environment their child will have to be educated. They also want to see how communities support their schools. Good schools attract growth.

Keeping our schools up to date and providing modern learning environments will help educate our students to meet modern standards such as Career and Tech Ed pathways. Students can take CTE classes through community colleges that are paid for by the State of Kansas. This allows them to graduate with a technical degree without going into debt. They can literally walk across the stage to receive their high school diploma and be ready to enter the workforce. This helps keep our students living in our area after they graduate. Our facilities do not have the space to accommodate these programs and the ones that do, such as our metals/welding program are terribly outdated.

Kansas is facing a teacher shortage and better facilities help us retain and attract quality teachers. 

Several options were presented to the Steering Committee and the School Board. The options ranged from $18 million to $36 million. 

The Steering Committee and School Board felt smaller bond projects did not achieve the same impact educationally or with safety and security improvements. The surveys showed that there was majority support for a larger project.

The existing bond matures in 2028. Waiting until 2028 to have an election for these projects will result in an increase in the costs of construction for the same project scope. Essentially, by waiting, the cost to do the same projects is more expensive. Therefore, conducting an election now provides an opportunity to fund these projects at a lower overall cost compared to waiting until the old bonds mature and minimize the mill levy impact which results in lower overall costs to taxpayers.

Student needs and teaching methods have changed, and school facilities must evolve to keep pace. Delaying these projects will only increase costs as construction prices continue to rise and temporary fixes become less effective. After extensive input from staff, a steering committee, and community meetings, the district determined this plan is the most responsible path forward. Acting now allows USD 417 to improve safety, replace outdated spaces, expand career training opportunities, and invest in facilities that will serve students and the community for generations.

Construction would start in the fall of 2026. Construction will not be 100% complete by August of 2027, but the students will start being able to use some of the improvements by then. The construction will be phased into two parts. Final completion is expected to take 18-22 months once construction starts.

The students will learn in their existing classrooms until new space is available. The projects will be phased in a way that allows this to happen.

Anyone that lives within the USD 417 school district boundary and is registered to vote by February 10th, is allowed to vote.  

No, the bond applies to all property that falls within the USD 417 school district. 

Bonds require a simple majority to pass (50%+1 vote).

The Construction Management at Risk process (CMAR) allows each trade to be bid separately and allows the school district to see each bid for total transparency. The project can be broken out to maximize local trade and business participation. For example, if there is a local electrician that does not want to bid on the entire project, part of the electrical work, such as site lighting, can be sent out as a separate package. Similarly, a local concrete contractor or mason could bid on parts of the project if they do not want to bid on the entire project.

The new classrooms will replace existing classrooms that are too small. These existing classrooms will be converted into support spaces and classrooms that can utilize smaller spaces such as special education classrooms. Some of the new classrooms will be used to move the classrooms in the Annex building into the new building, so we can renovate the Annex building into an Early Childhood Development Center, which will increase our daycare capacity from 45 children to 90 children. There is a huge need for childcare in our area that we hope to help address with this renovation.

Prairie Heights does not have the needs that the other schools have. It does not have temporary buildings that need to be replaced or buildings that need to be connected like CGES. The improvements at Prairie Heights address safety, security, and interior improvements to create functional spaces. 

All new facilities will be equipped with high-efficiency LED lighting fixtures and controls which typically reduces the energy burden associated with lighting systems by 30%-50% when compared against traditional fluorescent and incandescent lighting.

Additionally, the district is exploring other energy conservation measures to stretch operational dollars and address deferred maintenance on existing facilities.

The Kansas Historical Society reviewed the original high school building built in 1918 and stated  “We looked at the property in 2022 for eligibility in the state register of historic Kansas places or the national register of historic places. Due to the alterations done to the property, we determined it not eligible.” You can review this on the Kansas Historic Register Inventory (KHRI), the school is located at this link Kansas Historic Register for Original High School Building or is searchable under the KHRI number 127-481.

The school district pays the cost for a special election.

There is a balance between providing a secure and safe space while also creating a quality learning environment. The strategy is to provide ballistic window film at all entrances and to provide a secure check-in for the schools at the main entrance. Secure entries allow staff to supervise anyone entering the building, and if there is an issue, it allows staff to notify first responders and create a lock-down environment in the school. 

If the bond does not pass, the school board would have to assess why it did not pass and what the next steps would be. 

The options for renovation were shown at the public meeting and were included in the survey questions. You can see these by looking at the Community Meeting presentation.

If you review those options, you will notice that the dollar amounts shown are less than the actual cost of completely renovating the original high school building. The goal was to keep a bond mill levy amount around $31 million with the options. The option to renovate did not include all the costs that would be required because that would have exceeded that amount.

The budgets have been created by SPT Architecture and validated by Nabholz Construction based on cost data from previous projects. The budgets are based on square foot costs to determine overall size and scope of the project. The costs for each area can be seen in the Community meeting presentation.

The annual assessed valuation growth rate used in the financial plan for the projected 30-year bond financing is 2.25%. Over the past 10 years, the assessed valuation annual growth rate has averaged over 3.50%. If the assessed valuation growth rate averages more than the 2.25% used in the financial plan, it gives the Board of Education future flexibility to adjust the mill levy for the bond and interest fund lower or payoff bonds sooner than the 30-year financing term. 

The current mill rate for the bond and interest fund is 11.271 mills. The taxes generated by this fund can only be used towards bond payments. The 11.271 mills currently levied are making the bond payments on the Series 2013 bonds that mature in 2028. The 5.000 mill increase associated with this bond election will increase the bond and interest fund mill levy to 16.271 mills. This 16.271 mills is the flat mill levy used for debt repayment in the bond and interest fund for the next 30 years if the bond election is successful.

Personal property, including motor vehicles are taxed differently than residential, commercial, and agricultural property. The tax rate used for personal property, including motor vehicles is based on a countywide average mill rate. Because of this, there is no direct impact to the tax rate for these types of properties if this election is successful. Therefore, we expect the tax impact of this election to have a minimal impact on the countywide average mill rate used for personal property, including motor vehicles.  

The principal amount of the bond will be $31,500,000. Estimated interest will be $33,882,750. This results in a total debt service cost of $65,382,750 repaid during the 30 year financing term.  

Similar buildings have cost between $300,000 to $500,000 for demolition. It has not been bid yet, so an exact cost cannot be given. Factors such as the distance to transport material play a big factor in this cost. For example, bids were recently received by USD 360 Hesston to demolish their middle school. Bids received for that project ranged from $325,000 - $500,000.

There are five additional classrooms planned. The administration will have the flexibility to separate Junior High and Senior High class areas. However, other school districts, and our school district, have seen many positive outcomes to keeping these areas combined. Teachers know students better, students are able to take expanded curriculum and understand the options that are available to them throughout high school better. The current plan is to continue as the school currently operates.

The final location of the Vo Ag has not been determined. It could easily be located in one of the new parts of the building. It is currently shown in its existing location. Large garage doors have been shown for access. The new system would have modern ventilation equipment and a gas-manifold system located on the exterior of the building. However, design discussions would continue with staff if the bond passes to determine the best design for the Vo Ag department.

Teachers, like everyone else, want to work in environments that support their profession. Good facilities help attract and retain good staff. The school cannot control housing options, but we can do our best to create a great place for teachers and staff to want to work.

Current PK-12 enrollment is 727 students. If current trends continue, we expect to have around 675-700 students in the next 10-15 years. To put that in perspective, the median size of a school district in Kansas is 550-600 students.

USD 417 does not currently have a contract with SPT Architecture and has not paid anything for their services. Professional fees for bond projects are typically around 7% of the cost of construction. These include fees for civil engineering, structural engineering, mechanical (plumbing and HVAC) engineering, surveys, and geotechnical fees.