Tulsa World: Voters OK most school bonds

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Voters OK most school bonds
Owasso and Sand Springs had clear wins, while some were too close to call.

By RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer
Published: 10/14/2009 2:23 AM
Last Modified: 10/14/2009 3:52 AM

Voters in Sand Springs and Owasso overwhelmingly approved more than $60 million in bonds for school improvements Tuesday.

A $42.1 million proposition, the centerpiece of which will be a new elementary school, gained more than 84 percent approval in Sand Springs. An $18.7 million bond passed in the Owasso district, earning more than three-quarters of the votes.

A 60 percent "supermajority" of voter passage is required by state law on school bonds. "It's a great win for kids, and it's an exciting time for our community," Sand Springs Superintendent Lloyd Snow said.

In Delaware County, two propositions were too close to call Tuesday night in the Grove Public School district. Voters rejected school bonds in the Chouteau-Mazie (Mayes County) and Milfay (Creek County) districts.

The town of Okay in Wagoner County approved a 25-year franchise for Oklahoma Gas and Electric, and municipal officials were elected in Barnsdall (Osage County) and Taft (Muskogee County).

Snow said his district finished what he called a "world-class" early childhood education center in August. Tuesday's vote will springboard the school into upgrades that will serve the enrollment for years to come, he said.

About $23 million is to be set aside for a new elementary school to replace a building constructed about 1930, and roughly $7 million would go toward a new fine arts facility.

Other upgrades included in the proposition are basketball complex improvements ($2.75 million), wrestling facility ($450,000) and softball/baseball ($550,000). A $450,000 bond for transportation equipment also was approved.

"At a time when times are tough, it's a nice commentary for our community to step up and say, 'Despite everything, we need to take care of our kids,'

Snow said. "That's kind of what happened in Sand Springs (Tuesday)."

Planned for the larger Owasso bond are $4.2 million for security entrances at the Bailey, Hodson, Smith, Ator, Mills and Northeast elementary schools. Other upgrades in the bond include $3.5 million for the completion of the new high school wing and $2.5 million for district-wide technology improvements. A $1 million proposition for transportation equipment also passed. Voters approved the bonds by 77 percent and 79 percent, respectively.

"We're pretty thrilled." Owasso Superintendent Clark Ogilvie said. "Those are numbers better than we were getting in good times."

In the Owasso school district, voters have approved nearly $80 million of improvements in the past five years.

"We just weren't sure how people would react because times are so tough," Ogilvie said. "But we knew we had one thing going for us and that was we had promised that this would not raise taxes."

The fate of nearly $10 million in school bonds in the Grove district won't be decided until later this week.

The first proposal, which calls for a $9.6 million bond for classrooms, a cafeteria and multipurpose room, gained 60.3 percent of the vote, just above the 60 percent required. The second proposition, a $225,000 bond for three school buses, earned 61.7 percent of the votes.

"We have 67 votes that haven't been counted," said Beth Crawford with the Delaware County Election Board.

Crawford said of the 67 votes not counted, 47 are absentee ballots and will be counted on Thursday morning while the other 20 provisional votes will be counted Friday.

Area Results

(Unofficial)

X - elected

Tulsa County

Owasso Public Schools

Proposition 1

$18.7 million bond for school construction

Passed..... 946 to 282

Proposition 2

$1 million bond for transportation equipment

Passed..... 970 to 256

Sand Springs Public Schools

Proposition 1

$42.160 million bond for school construction

Passed

1,733 to 320

Proposition 2

$450,000 bond for transportation equipment

Passed..... 1,752 to 302

Creek County

Milfay Public Schools

Elementary School District No. 1

Proposition

$1.015 million bond for school construction

Failed..... 68 to 71

Delaware County

Grove Public Schools

Proposition 1

$9.65 million bond for school security and construction

Passing

972 to 640, with absentee and provisional votes to be counted later in week

Proposition 2

$250,000 for transportation

Passing ....................

993 to 617, with absentee and provisional votes to be counted later in week

Mayes County

Chouteau-Mazie Public Schools

Proposition 1

$11.415 million bond for school construction

Failed..... 242 to 540

Proposition 2

$250,000 bond for transportation equipment

Failed..... 306 to 480

Muskogee County

Town of Taft

Board of Trustees (Pick two)

X - Elsie F. Ceasar........................68

X - Janice Bowler.........................66

Clifton E. Lee................................50

Starla Devon Phillips..................48

Osage County

City of Barnsdall

Ward 3 council member

X - Joe W. King..................251

Jean Lewis.................. 86

Ward 4 council member

X - Brock Moore..................211

Rick Parker..................93

Jefforey Salamy..................34

Street commissioner

X - Faye Lin Long..................244

Bert Lewis.................. 93

Wagoner County

Town of Okay

Proposition

25-year Oklahoma Gas and Electric franchise

Passed..... 39 to 1

World correspondent Sheila Stogsdill contributed to this story.

Rhett Morgan 581-8395
rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com By RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Voters approve more than $60 million in school bonds in Sand Springs, Owasso," which was published on 10/13/2009.

	Report Comment out here in the middle, Sand Springs (10/13/2009 2:24:53 PM) Voted no. Sorry. But a bad economy is no time to incur more debt.
	Report Comment psychedelikrelik, Tulsa (10/13/2009 2:36:30 PM) Good point, out here. But, isn't putting education needs on the back burner kinda like delaying maintenance on your house? You know it has to be done, and waiting means it will cost you more in the long run.
	Report Comment WideAwake, (10/13/2009 2:47:21 PM) Security entrances? Owasso is not high crime!
	Report Comment Ingraham, (10/13/2009 3:03:11 PM) true owasso is not high crime, but if something would happen, people would be all over the district for having poorly designed entrances
	Report Comment out here in the middle, Sand Springs (10/13/2009 3:03:39 PM) Have you been to Sand Springs lately? We have a multi-million dollar football facility. And now they tell us they need textbooks and new busses? On the news this morning, one school employee said that they needed a new building because the current building has a spiral staircase, and she cannot see all her kids at the same time. So let's spend $43 million. We can make do with what we have currently, in my opinion, rather than the current practice of borrowing more and more, just to keep up with other school districts.
	Report Comment FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (10/14/2009 12:36:05 AM) There are good points on both sides. But their were no losers tonight. All sides should agree this is the best investment we could have made. supporting our childrens future.
	Report Comment Thunder196, Tulsa (10/14/2009 12:43:20 AM) FW I used to think the same way, until I found out how much money is being sat on and not being used. I will never vote for another bond issue in Tulsa County. Tulsa County has the highest tax rates in Oklahoma, have less to show for our money. Oklahoma City has a lower tax rate and has a lot more to show for it.
	Report Comment FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (10/14/2009 12:47:43 AM) I agree in terms of Tulsa Public and Ba Schools. Tulsa needs to completely clean out the school board before I vote for another penny. I don't live in BA, but they need the OSBI to go in there and check over the books and look under the desks before voters vote for another penny.
	Report Comment Centrist, the burbs (10/14/2009 1:01:30 AM) It is true Owasso does not have as much crime but it's no time to set back and think it won't happen here. I would feel better that my child was protected. Owasso has nice schools and would like to keep it that way and support their improvements. Likewise, Broken Arrow has some older and newer schools and the district is so large that they could use improvements and because of the large district the interest on the bonds would not affect the property owners as much as smaller districts.
	Report Comment Ron Ballew, Lawton (10/14/2009 7:40:19 AM) Government functions should be financed from current income (taxes), not from borrowing (bonds). Interest on borrowing reduces purchasing power and is an unnecessary burden on the tax payers.
	Report Comment sandite168, Sand Springs (10/14/2009 7:47:04 AM) At Sand Springs: I think that the amount of votes and over whelming support sends a message to the school board and our city. We want better things for our kids and we don't want the status quo for our schools or town. We had 2053 voters compared to Owasso's 1228.
	Report Comment my view, Sand Springs (10/14/2009 8:36:06 AM) out here in the middle, Your opinion was clearly in the minority judging by the vote. The football stadium was built by voter approval, money wasn't diverted from textbooks to fund it. I share Lloyd Snow's thoughts "It's a great win for kids".
	Report Comment tulsa_common_sense, tulsa (10/14/2009 9:35:16 AM) bonds are taxes. why not raise taxes instead of voting in a bond and be hit with a balloon later? we all know balloon payments suck. if those who want better things for there kids. go check the yearly budget and check the audits. find out where the money is being spent. then become truly involved goto meetings and ask why money is being spent the way it is. allot of these improvements can occur with current budgets if the money is managed well. instead we see teachers being cut supplies being cut and then buildings being added.

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