Voters in the Farmington School District have an important decision to make in April. FSD is asking for approval for a zero-tax rate change Bond Issue. Increase Bond Issue titled Proposition F and a Tax Levy increase titled Proposition S. The items will appear separately on the ballot, and allow the school district to make improvements and give raises to faculty and staff.
“The Farmington community values their schools and wants to ensure that students get a good education in quality facilities,” said Dr. Kyle Gibbs, FSD’s superintendent.
Since Gibbs became Farmington’s superintendent, he began planning for the next bond issue.
“In the fall of 2023, right after I became superintendent, we conducted a demographic study to determine the district’s needs,” said Gibbs. “The Director of Operations and the Administrative team worked together to identify the top needs for each building across the district. In addition, a team of staff members from across the district was formed to provide input about the proposed projects. Finally, the district worked closely with our architectural firm to identify all these projects and tie cost estimates to them. Once these estimates were provided, we prioritized which projects were most needed and which we could afford at this time, pending approval of a bond issue.”
Then, after the study, they decided what needed to be done. They started to put together what is known as Proposition F. These are the current needs that will be covered in Proposition F: new HVAC systems, roofing, parking lots, classroom renovations, and technology upgrades. There are some larger projects, including a storm shelter at the high school, a new track for the middle school, new buses, and classroom additions to the high school and middle school that will take a few years to complete.
“The improvements will help the district improve efficiency and enable us to move forward with up-to-date equipment and put us on a better path to be more proactive with maintenance needs and less reactive,” said Gibbs.
Washington-Franklin is one of the most historic buildings in the district, but in its current state, it is showing its age. This school requires the most improvement. Renovations to the first and second floors, HVAC upgrades, electrical upgrades, and an elevator.
“The plan includes extensive renovations to improve the efficiency, safety, and appearance of Washington-Franklin,” said Gibbs.
Dr. Brian Reeves, a high school teacher, has been on three bond issue committees. He explained that this bond issue is a bit different from the ones he has worked on in the past because it directly affects the student body. Many aspects of the bond issue are for the benefit of students’ well-being.
“We need to have a good physical campus that our students can take pride in,” said Reeves.
Reeves emphasized that this bond issue is going to affect high school students greatly. If the bond issue passes, there are plans to build a storm shelter that will double as a performing arts center. This will benefit not only the safety of children in the circumstance of a storm but also the students who are a part of theater, band, and many other activities. It can also be used as a meeting facility. Reeves is someone who holds many meetings for high school students.
“Having a large area would help program directors like me because we do not have a place to hold large-scale meetings. Room 109 is not big enough for a large group,” said Reeves. “The field house is built for sports, not for meetings.”
The tax levy, Proposition S, will make FSD salaries comparable to surrounding school districts; with the tax levy, the base salary will increase from $41,500 to $43,500.
“In summary, the levy increase is not intended to make FSD the highest paid district as our ask for an increase to taxpayers was a conservative 40 cents but the increase will solely be used to close the gap that exists and continues to grow between us and some of the neighboring schools paying more,” said Gibbs.
The tax levy will not just be for the teachers; it will also affect the students. Extracurricular activities could be impacted by the tax levy. Also, student resources that are used daily will be impacted.
“Also, the levy increase will ensure that we can keep up with providing all the resources needed to make our school run smoothly,” said Gibbs.“We will be able to keep providing the one-to-one Chromebooks, learning platforms, cybersecurity, reading materials, library resources, buses, cleaning supplies, consumables, and everything else that keeps our school going.”
The deadline to register to vote on Proposition F and Proposition S is March 12. Early voting begins on March 25, and on April 8, the election will be open to all people who have registered to vote. The polls will open at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
