Colby School District passes bond resolution – What you need to know

Dear Colby Families, On August 19, 2024, the Colby School District Board of Education approved two bond questions for the upcoming November 5 election. These measures, if passed by voters, will enable the district to make significant investments in infrastructure, safety, and educational facilities, ensuring that students and staff have the best possible environments for learning and growth. The bond resolution includes two questions: Question 1: Maintenance & modernization. This question seeks approval for general obligation bonds not to exceed $17,770,000 to fund a comprehensive school facility improvement project. Key areas of focus include:

• Health, safety, and security: The plan focuses on creating secure entrances with visitor check-ins at both the middle and high schools, upgrading fire alarms and security cameras, ensuring ADA compliance in key areas, and safely removing asbestos from various locations.

• Infrastructure, maintenance, and efficiency: The plan includes installing digital controls for energy efficiency, replacing aging HVAC systems, upgrading electrical services, and improving plumbing by replacing outdated piping. Additionally, it involves roof maintenance and replacement, updating exterior doors and windows, and refreshing the building's interior with new flooring, carpeting, and painting.

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• Modern learning environment: The plan includes creating a flexible multi use cafeteria and commons area for middle and high school students, building a new greenhouse for FACS and agricultural programs, updating agriculture and business labs, and renovating space to add a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) lab with adjacent special education resource rooms, all aimed at enhancing the modern learning environment.

Question 2: Elementary addition & new possibilities. This question seeks approval for bonds not to exceed $7,720,000 to fund an improvement project at the Elementary School, focusing on grade realignment and expanding the learning environment: • Grade realignment: The plan involves moving 4th grade to the elementary school and 8th grade to the middle school, providing age-appropriate learning spaces and freeing up space across the buildings to enable enhanced programming at all

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school levels.

• Educational environment: The plan includes adding new classrooms and special education areas, enhancing spaces for music, art, and cafeteria use, renovating locker rooms to improve kitchen and food service facilities, and expanding preschool space to support early childhood education and better gym scheduling.

This bond resolution offers a vital opportunity to invest in the future of our schools, with the goal of enhancing our facilities while considering the financial impact on our residents. We prioritized listening to our community throughout this process, and the insights gathered from community engagement efforts and a district-wide survey have been instrumental in shaping these proposals. Thank you to everyone who participated—you’ve helped us create a plan that truly reflects our community's needs and values.

Next steps: The Colby School District Board of Education is committed to keeping the community well-informed about the bond measures and their impact. In the coming weeks, we will share detailed information about the referendum, including the project scope and tax impact, through a dedicated website, social media, open houses, community meetings, a detailed mailer, and more.

Thank you, Dr. Patrick Galligan, Superintendent, Colby School District

PATRICK

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G ALLIGAN