Details of a Lowndes County School District bond, which was announced a month ago, should be made clear by the end of next week.
LCSD Superintendent Lynn Wright said Wednesday that the board will decide what projects to include in the bond proposal next week, either during a specially called meeting or the board’s regular meeting on Jan. 9.
“I met with our board attorney and architect (Tuesday) and what we’ve decided on would be a bond issue for $39.9 million,” Wright said. “That would include $25 million for a new high school in New Hope, $11 for a career-tech center, $2 million for a football field house at Caledonia and a little less than $1 million for athletic facilities at West Lowndes High School.”
Voters will go to the poll on Feb. 3 to decide whether to agree to fund the proposal, which may require about a 1 mill increase in property taxes to fund. Officials have indicated a tax increase may not be required to fund the bond due to additional expected revenues from county industries.
It will mark the second time in five months voters will be asked to fund new facilities in the district. On Aug. 26, voters rejected a $47 million bond proposal. Although 52 percent of the voters approved the proposal, it needed 60 percent approval to pass.
Items that were included in that bond proposal but have been eliminated in the new one are a $2.8 million renovation at New Hope Middle School, a new field house at New Hope High School and a plan to provide every student in the district with a laptop or notebook computer.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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