School District seeking bond restructure for facilities

FAYETTEVILLE — The School District would have $111 million to build more facilities and maintain and upgrade the ones it has if voters approve restructuring some existing bond issues in February.

The School Board agreed by a 5-0 vote Thursday to hold an election on the matter Feb. 11. District officials stressed there would be no tax increase if voters approve the measure.

About 40% of the money generated from the bond restructuring would go to purchasing land and building a school on the district’s west side. The fifth and sixth grades at Owl Creek School, which houses prekindergarten through sixth grade, would shift to the new building, said Superintendent John L Colbert.

The district also plans to build both a Student Wellness Academic Complex and a Student Teams Activities Complex at Fayetteville High

School, adjacent to the athletic fields. Those buildings would replace crowded, inadequate facilities used primarily by student athletes, but would be used for academic purposes as well, district officials said.

Another large chunk of the money generated — roughly 20% — will go to facility needs districtwide identified through a facility assessment done earlier this year.

There’s also money earmarked for a track at Woodland Junior High School, resurfacing of the track at Ramay Junior High, and installing LED lighting, which will save the district nearly $250,000 annually in energy costs, according to Megan Slocum, associate superintendent for support services.

“To me this is a very diverse and balanced approach,” said board President Justin Eichmann. “It touches every building across the district and raises the overall level of our facilities districtwide.”

Colbert said the district has done its homework to determine all of its most pressing facility needs. The bond restructuring is “badly needed,” he said.

The district identified eight of its current bond issues to be restructured, or refinanced, to raise the $111 million. The district’s annual maximum debt service payment of $15.6 million will remain about the same, but payments will be extended for a number of years.

Whereas the debt payment currently is expected to