Alva Review-Courier -

A public hearing was held in Freedom's high school auditorium last Thursday, April 4, on the May 14 bond election that, if passed, would fund a variety of improvements to Freedom Public School buildings. Projects would improve energy efficiency, expand accessibility, and fix long-standing problems. If passed, the $1.4 million bond issuance would raise a $1,000 property tax bill by $126.

Architect from K3 Lists Proposed Projects

James Kerr, president of architectural firm K3, based in Edmond, ran down the list of projects that would be funded by the bond issue, if it passes on May 14. The majority of K3's clients are small school districts like Freedom, Kerr said.

“We always encourage the client to have more needs than they think they have budget,” Kerr said. “That way if the bids come in lower than we expect, we've already got the priorities established.”

Proposed projects include:

• Improve energy efficiency of gym and auditorium. “Most of them have single-pane glass,” noted Kerr. All the windows and frames would be replaced with the current industry standard, and all the lighting would be replaced with LED lights, which would lower monthly bills.

• Fix outside drainage problems. “We've got drainage issues where water doesn't get away from the building quite fast enough,” said Kerr. “That leads to the erosion of parking lot painting and sidewalks; grass and dirt are washed into the street.”

• Expand accessibility. A ramp with handrails would be added to the front of the school building “to get people safely from the parking lot into this building and into the gym without having to go up steps,” Kerr said. Inside, doorknobs would be replaced with levers, and the doors would be re-keyed. The restrooms by the auditorium and the gym would be renovated to bring them into ADA compliance. In the gym, a space would be created where someone in a wheelchair could sit safely, and handrails would be installed up the aisles on both sides of the gym.

• Replace gym floor. The current gym floor has been there for 50 years, Kerr said. “Time for a new one. We would replace it completely.” Also, a covering would be placed over the entrance to the gym to cut down on rain being blown through the door during storms.

• New ag building built. Plans are to build a 4,000-square-foot building that would contain a multipurpose classroom and a shop. The white building to the north would become a transportation building. The restrooms there would be made ADA compliant, a requirement to allow stock show events to be held there. The classroom and office in that building would also be renovated, and the large windows – which are energy inefficient – would be replaced. The masonry and mortar on the outside would be repaired as necessary, and it would be painted.

• Screen walls raised. On the main school building, screen walls would be built on the west and south sides to protect the roof hub and installed mechanical equipment.

• Cover painted concrete with veneer. To reduce maintenance costs, all white-painted concrete – which has to be repainted every year – would be covered with a thin brick veneer that would never have to be painted.

Impact on Local Property Taxes

Jordan Smith of Stephen L. Smith Corp., which is handling the legal and financial aspects of the bond issuance, discussed the impact on local property taxes if Freedom resident vote in favor of the bonds.

The $1.4 million bond issuance would be on a 10-year payout, he said.

“If you paid $1,000 in property taxes this year and this bond issue passes, you can expect to pay about $1,126 total. There's an increase of about $126 on a $1,000 property tax bill,” he said. “If you have your property taxes escrowed into your mortgage, that's about $10.53 a month,” he said.

That's figured at a 5 percent interest rate, but Smith said interest rates are “very clearly” going down. Recent bond issues have “sold” for about 2.5 percent, he said.

He advised the group at the hearing that the ballot will have a lot of legal language that's required by statute, so he wanted to put any worries that might arise at ease before election day.

“By law, a school is allowed to leave 30 percent of the bond unaccounted for,” he said – school's are only required by law to tell the public about how 70 percent of the funds raised will be used. “But we have accounted for 100 percent of the proceeds,” he said. “Nothing is left unaccounted for.”

The bonds will be sold in a sealed competitive bid, he said, and the lowest bid wins – period. “The board doesn't have the authority to choose a higher bid,” Smith said.

Once the bond is sold, the funds go into a separate locked box account, so when the school is audited the auditors can clearly see that the money was spent on those specific projects, he said.

Superintendent Miller Puts It In Perspective

“Freedom is small,” said Superintendent James Miller, “but our students receive an individualized education from a highly qualified staff who know every student by name. I know districts that wish they knew half their students by name, and not just the ones that are in the office. Sometimes bigger isn't always better. The world outside of Freedom is trying to figure out how to offer what we do.”

Miller said the auditorium, in which the public hearing was held, had been built in 1958/59. The gym was built in 1969, and the library was built in 1991, he said.

The year the auditorium was built, Miller noted, the graduating class's motto was “Success comes in cans; failure comes in cant's.” The year the gym was built, he said, the motto was “If it hasn't been done, we will do it.” The 1935 class motto was “Less than our best is failure” and the motto of the Class of 1931 was “Together we stick; divided we're stuck.” Finally, he quoted the motto of the Class of 1970: Not finished; just begun.

“Freedom has a rich past and we've just begun,” Miller said. “I ask you this question: What legacy will we leave to the future Eagles?”

A bond committee was formed to examine what the school needs and what it can afford. The committee put together a list and wrote a project proposal “with the support of the school board that meets the district's needs at an acceptable cost that we believe will have community support,” he said. “We plan to address accessibility issues, energy efficiency needs, and educational needs of today's students and future students,” Miller said.

The bond election will take place Tuesday, May 14.