The Greene County School District’s $21.48 million bond referendum vote is Tuesday, April 3rd.

The total cost of the project is $35.48 million with funding coming from several different entities. Greene County Supervisors have committed up to $5 million for the regional career academy, another $4.5 million is pledged by Grow Greene County Gaming Corporation for a new gymnasium and performing arts center, and $4.5 million is coming from the voter-approved Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) funds as well as the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) funds.

Part of the $35.48 million project is to take the current high school and renovate it for the middle school students. Community Steering committee member Chris Deal says plans are being discussed about renovating the current middle school into a possible housing project.

“We’ve gotten the question, and it’s a valid question, of, ‘If it doesn’t make sense for the school to rehab it, why does it make sense for a developer to rehab it?’ One of the big differences is that the developers have access to some of the tax credits, some of the incentives that are out there. This middle school, this building, we’ve had developers already asks us for floor plans for it. So they are looking at it, there is opportunity here.”

Superintendent Tim Christensen says by turning the current high school into a middle school, it will allow middle school students the opportunity to take other career and technical education (CTE) classes before going into high school.

The polls will be open from 7am to 8pm on Tuesday.