Lakeside millage increase leading
Unofficial results Tuesday night showed voters approved a 4-mill increase for Lakeside School District which will help the district complete projects to accommodate its growing student population and increase security.
As of presstime Tuesday, results showed a slim margin with 1,786 voting “for” the millage increase and 1,669 “against” it.
Now, according to Superintendent Shawn Cook, the work begins on preparing the projects for bid.
“We will immediately get with construction manager, architects, and start meeting weekly on all of our plans, working to get it for bid,” Cook told The Sentinel-Record. “Bids
would be in late May or early June of ‘19.”
The passage of the millage during a primary election gives the district an advantage, Cook said, by allotting enough time to iron out every detail of the proposed projects.
“We’ll immediately start going to work with our administrators and teachers, people who use these facilities on a daily basis,” he said. “They will help really come up with the things we will do on the inside of the buildings. All the things we would need to make it really function properly.”
The district has proposed building a new junior high school and performing arts center, remodeling the entrances and cafeterias at both the primary and intermediate schools, adding a new centrally located practice field, a turf field at the middle school and additional parking throughout campus.
The cost of construction, according to Cook, will be $40 million. The bond issue of $48,450,000 will take over two existing bonds which will mature over 31 years. The total debt of the extension will be “around $72 to $73 million” Cook said in early May.
The preliminary designs of the new facilities were produced prior to the election by French Architects. Things like the new junior high school, which will house seventh and eighth grades when complete, will have input from grade-level teachers on classroom functionality, he said. Similarly, the proposed 1,200-seat performing arts center will take into consideration the needs of the district’s band directors, choir and drama teachers.
“Our teachers will be very involved in developing everything that happens in their classrooms — the design, the technology, all that. Administrators also just for the function of the buildings,” Cook said.
The district will also be working with safety consultants to make the not only the new buildings but existing buildings like the primary and intermediate schools as safe as possible.
“We’ll have engineers, architects, construction manager and all these other people around the table pretty much on a weekly basis,” Cook said. “The advantage there is that you get it right before you go to bid so that you know right where you’re at so that your projects come in within your budget. I feel like sometimes if you have to rush it, it’s hard to do that. But working with our team we’ve always really been able to, as I always say, figure cost down to the doorknob and have our people to run the numbers to make sure when we go to bid that we feel confident that we can bring it in within budget.
Cook thanked the patrons of the district for their support this election, saying the passage of the millage increase is an investment in present and future Lakeside students.
“We knew that having this during a primary election would have a larger voter turnout than a special election,” Cook said. “We want great voter turnout no matter which side of the issue people are on. We thank them for exercising their right to vote.
“I’m so glad for our kids, employees, and our great community. The results show the support of our residents for the plans we have made to take care of our kids. Thank you to everyone who supported us. This is a great feeling right now. I love this especially for our kids and the kids in the future. Our community supports our school and we support our community. It takes working together to achieve greatness. I’m so appreciative to all of our people.”
Voters in Lake Hamilton School District elected newcomer Brian Peters over 30-year board member Don Smith as of presstime Tuesday.
Peters said he is “excited” to serve the next five years on the school board and is happy to see that voters “cast their vote not necessarily for a candidate, but for change.”
Smith said Tuesday he has enjoyed his 30 years with the board and wished his successor well.