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Board approves, sets bond issue for May special election
RANDOLPH – The Randolph Public School board voted to move forward with a school bond election, setting it for May 13.
Board members did not discuss any part of the $8.75 million bond in detail at its regular meeting Monday night before passing the resolution but has spent countless hours studying it and receiving public feedback through multiple town hall meetings and facility tours.
Projects for the bond include: a new 9,680 CTE/Ag building with storm shelter, high school gym air conditioning, and a variety of projects at the elementary campus including overhauling the original HVAC system, building a new serving kitchen, renovating bathrooms, replacing electrical and lighting, and making a new secure entrance, among others.
Voters narrowly rejected a $9.75 million bond issue in November. Board members whittled away $1 million in costs by reducing the size of the CTE/ag building and utilizing some of its special building funds.
Roof repairs slated at the high school were removed from the bond proposal, instead funded through the district’s special building fund and completed this summer.
Ballots will be mailed to school district patrons in Pierce, Wayne and Cedar counties April 21. Ballots can be returned by mail or by dropping it off at the Cedar County Courthouse. Ballots must be received by May 13.
If the bond is passed by voters, property tax on a $100,000 home, for example, would increase $95 per year. Ag land would see increases at $4.86 per acre for irrigated land; $4.55 per acre for dry land; and $1.77 per acre of grassland annually.
The borrowing rate will be locked in for the life of the loan unless the board decides to recall the bond and refinance it at a lower rate. The district is allowed to do this process every five years.
Tobin Buchanan of Northland Securities, Omaha, one of the district’s bond partners, provided the financial information at a previous meeting.
The projected bond levy includes principal and interest that would be calculated for the 20-year life of the bond.
For the purposes of the bond, agriculture land is assessed at 50 percent of market value, per state law.
Principal exits
Brandi Bartels will be leaving the district at the end of the school year to become the next superintendent at Twin River Public Schools in Genoa. Twin River includes Genoa, Monroe and Silver Creek communities.
Bartels said she has verbally accepted the position at Twin River with it becoming official March 17 at Twin River’s next school board meeting.
She will be leaving Randolph Public Schools in June after six years of working as the high school principal, and in most recent years also took on the athletic director role.
Schrunk said he was impressed with the quantity and quality of candidates applying for the open high school principal position.
Out of 14 applications, five candidates will be interviewed March 12.
“There’s one that would have been top tier that ended up taking another position,” Schrunk said, with many school districts all trying to fill similar positions at the same time.
Randolph’s school board will meet in a special session at noon, Friday, March 14, to officially accept Bartels’ resignation and approve a contract for a new high school principal.
Reading training
Elementary teachers are on track to finish specialized reading comprehension training by the end of the month.
Teachers will complete their final in-person Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training March 24.
Elementary Principal Denton Beacom commended them for putting in the extra time in the classroom learning and also the 1 ½ hours of homework assigned each week, for the last two years.
“It’s been a great training but a lot of hours,” he said. “Teachers have put in a lot of hours outside of school . . . a lot of kudos to them.”
LETRS training empowers teachers with essential research-based literacy strategies to improve student reading outcomes, address diverse learning needs, and contribute to community development.
In other action, the board discussed but did not take any action regarding a flooring bid from Complete Floors. Additional bids will be sought for flooring at the high school offices, high school commons, and the fourth and sixth grade classrooms at the elementary building. The board will most likely take up the item again at its regular meeting April 14.
The board also approved new Social Studies curriculum and materials.
