The Lisbon School Board has approved applying for local option sales and tax revenue sales bonds for a new addition to the school building.
During a public hearing Wednesday, July 13, Lisbon business manager Laurie Maher said this borrowing will not impact the tax rate for the school district, as it comes from sales tax revenues collected. It’s also how the district was able to construct the Lisbon Early Childcare Center years ago.
“This will tie up the bonding capacity of the district for roughly 10 years, but it will tackle a number of big projects that will have far reaching aspects for the district,” Maher said.
Maher said the exact amount of bonds the district qualifies for are still being determined, as the board is applying first via private placement bonds. Receiving those bonds could generate an additional amount of money that does not need to be held in reserve.
“If we do not qualify for private placement, it will not impact us drawing bonds in the open market and we wouldn’t have missed locking in a lower interest rate,” Maher said. “The savings for private placement was worth exploring and trying.”
The district is expecting $5 million for the project, with additional portions of the revenue bonds being used to refinance the LECC bonds to a lower interest rate, which will also save the district.
Maher explained that the big draw for the project is the career and technical education classroom wing that will be installed to the south of the school building. Instructor Kirk Wischmeyer has helped with designing the classroom spaces for the program.
Other improvements the district is looking into include renovations to the old gymnasium, adding HVAC system to the Lion’s Den and investigating playground improvements.
Music teacher Julie Stulken questioned what the district will look like in five to 10 years, and if these improvements address the needed classroom space the district may need in the future?
“I just feel we’re spending too much on one classroom idea,” Stulken said.
Lisbon superintendent Autumn Pino said the idea of classrooms did come up, and that work on this project will add an additional 4.5 classrooms in the building.
“Looking at longitudinal data, we don’t expect a huge influx of students in five to 10 years,” Pino said.
Board member John Prasil added the Bardsley property to the east of the school district that is being explored as a purchase opens up areas for future expansion.
“When it comes to career and technical education, we needed to do something for a long time to meet state requirements,” Prasil said. “The school made that commitment with the industrial arts program.”
Jeff Bohr, former school board member, said the industrial arts program was gone since the early 1980s. He praised the school board for actions they have taken since his time on the school board to address the negative enrollment numbers they were facing, as well as being proactive with this new education wing.
“That corner by the Lion’s Den has always been seen as dead space,” Bohr said. “I applaud the district for coming up with the vision to wraparound additional classrooms. Whatever we build at Lisbon takes parking away, which is always a concern for us. The past bond issue did a lot to address athletics and fine arts. This is providing classrooms for future use.”