More details have been released about the upcoming April 3rd bond referendum vote for the Greene County School District.

Plans for the $21.48 million bond include: a new high school; a regional academy, that will be operated and staffed by Iowa Central Community College and located west of American Athletic Incorporated on south Highway 4; and converting the current high school into a middle school building for fifth through eighth graders.

The new high school plans include a single-story building that is about 105,000-square-feet, with an average classroom size of 900-square-feet and a 700-seat performing arts center. The larger classroom space is more conducive to how students learn in the 21st Century and comparable to other areas of the state.

The regional academy would be a 20,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the new high school. The look of the academy is similar to Iowa Central’s current academy in Eagle Grove, along with date from other regional academies in the state, with space available for four strands of education, including: precision agriculture, computer software, advanced manufacturing and culinary arts. Those strands have been identified by Greene County employers as needs for their industries.

The current high school will be renovated without major changes to its appearance, with improvements to functionality, safety and the learning environment. The 700-square-foot classrooms are 40-percent larger than the classrooms at the current middle school. The gymnasium will be updated to allow community and district events to take place.

The proposed $21.48 million bond would increase property taxes for residential properties to $2.70 per $1,000 taxable valuation. An example would be if a house is assessed at $100,000, after the state rollbacks and homestead credits are applied, the taxable value is $50,771. A $2.70 increase per $1,000 would result in an annual increase of $137.08, or $11.42 per month. As for agriculture property, farmland in Greene County is about $1,890. After the state rollback, the taxable valuation is $1,029, which would be an increase of $2.78 per acre.

The total cost of the project is $35.48 million, with contributions from Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation of $4.5 million for the new high school gym and performing arts center, up to $5 million from the Greene County Supervisors for the regional academy, $100,000 from Dick and Delores Finch, along with the school district borrowing $4.5 million from the voter-approved Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) and Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) funds from the state one-cent sales tax.

Several community meetings on the bond referendum have been scheduled. On March 7th, a meeting will take place at the Rippey Community Center at 4pm, then at 5:30pm at the Grand Junction Community Center, and at the middle school gym in Jefferson at 7pm. The final meeting will take place at the Scranton Community Center at 9am on March 8th.

Absentee ballots will be available at the Greene County Auditor’s office starting March 5th. If the bond passes by a 60-percent majority vote, the anticipated move-in date is scheduled for the 2020-2021 school year.

For more information about the bond, contact the Greene County Superintendent’s office at 386-4168.