This is not your usual school election

By BROOKS TAYLOR

Mt. Pleasant News

Normally, the September school board elections are not newsmakers, unless there is some controversy. In fact, 2014 is not a year for school elections. Due to a change in laws governing school board service, school elections are not an annual event any longer.

This year is not a normal year in the Mt. Pleasant Community School District and voters will be asked to vote on a $16.9-million school bond referendum and select a new school board member to represent District 3.

The three candidates ? Karl Braun, Jennifer Crull and Stephanie Zinkle ? vying for the District 3 seat were profiled in Thursday?s News. The winner will serve one year, or until the 2015 school board elections. The majority of Mt. Pleasant School Board members run by district but are elected through an at-large vote.

The $16.9-million referendum has sparked emotional rhetoric from both sides and been played out through letters to the editor of The Mt. Pleasant News for weeks. Those opposed claim, among other things, that ballot language is vague, it is not financially prudent to spend nearly $15 million on 50-year-old buildings and that using most of the remaining bonding power is risky.

Those supporting the referendum say air conditioning in the elementary schools would create a much better learning environment, the world has changed which demands more secure pick-up and drop-off points at the schools, crowded conditions exist at some of the elementary schools and the district?s technology efforts have not kept pace with the advances in technology. The referendum needs a 60-percent approval vote for passage.

Voting has been heavy for a school election ? over 325 patrons had cast ballots by 5 p.m. Thursday.

Following is a glance at Tuesday?s election.

Where and when you vote? Polls will be open from 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Those in the Mt. Pleasant precinct vote at Cottrell Gymnasium and voting in the Salem precinct will be at the Salem Community Center.

What is being voted on? The school district is proposing $14.9 million for repairs and upgrades to the district?s four elementary schools ? Harlan, Van Allen, Lincoln and Salem. The upgrades include air conditioning and new gymnasiums at Lincoln and Salem Elementary schools. The remaining $2 million will be spent for technology upgrades including the 1:1 computer initiative.

How would passage of the bond impact property taxes? The proposed general obligation bond levy would set the maximum debt service levy at $2.70 per $1,000 of taxable valuation which is an increase of $1.01 per $1,000 taxable valuation from the 2015 levy, according to information on the school district?s website. However, the district said in late August that it is fairly certain that low interest rates may lower the levy increase from $1.01 to 78 cents per $1,000 taxable valuation. The district said it has learned of a possible decrease in conversations with its bonding firm ? Piper Jaffray. The increase in the levy won?t be known until the bonds are sold (due to the uncertainty of the interest rate).