Voters in the White Rock School District will decide a $280,000 bond issue in a Special election on Aug. 8.
“This bond issue is really needed. It will cover the costs for roofs damaged by storms earlier this year that our insurance doesn’t cover,” School Supt. Alicia Ebers said.
She explained that the roofs of the main building and the gymnasium were damaged.
Ebers acknowledged the bond issue will raise taxes, “because the last bonds that passed were a number of years ago.
“If a person is paying $1,000 in taxes now, that will increase $132.96 a year or $11.08 a month if it passes,” she said.
A person paying $500 in taxes now, would pay an additional $66.48 a year or $5.54 a month, she noted.
Ebers pointed out that school begins on Aug. 9. She said the insurance company has paid for an $8,000 patch on the roofs, and has told her it will pay another $75,000, possibly more.
But she said that will not cover the cost of replacing the roofs.
“The roofers will start on the new roofs this Monday, July 31,” she said.
“Weather permitting, they have told us they should be finished before school starts,” Ebers added.
“The way the bond issue is written, it will allow us to make other improvements to the buildings with the money left over from paying for the roofs.”
Ebers pointed to the growth in student enrollment since Oct. 1 of the 2018-2019 school year when it stood at 76.
“Last school year in 2022-2023 our Oct. 1 count was 143 and we finished the year with 155 students, more than doubling enrollment in that time frame,” she said.
“We really have been working to make improvements to our building and district, with our parents and community even raising funds to refinish our gym floor.
“We have used federal funding to implement security upgrades. We have painted nearly every classroom in the last few years, and we are currently remodeling our teacher workroom to put in an additional classroom.”