VIENNA — The Maries R-1 School Board has approved moving forward with the no tax increase bond issue proposition that will be on the April Election Ballot if all the preparation work is finished by the end of January.

At the school’s board’s December meeting, the board unanimously voted to put the bond issue question on the April ballot. They are asking district voters to continue the debt service levy at $0.44 in order to pay for needed improvements at the school. Retaining the debt service levy will not increase taxes for voters, but it will extend the life of the bonds, which originally were  obligated to pay for the new high school in Vienna. Depending upon interest rates, the district could use the excess from the debt service levy to fund up to $1.5 million in projects over time.

Superintendent Mark Parker said they need to make it official the district will be running the no tax increase bond issue in April and they need to finalize the list of projects. He said it has been determined that projects dealing with safety issues should come first. A safety and energy efficiency project is replacing windows in both the elementary and middle schools. Additionally, entrances into the buildings need to be shored up with good doors and the size of the windows around the doors needs to be reduced for safety reasons. They don’t want a “bad guy” to be able to look through a window and see all the way down a hallway. A security expert also noted the vestibule at the high school’s main entrance needs security measures installed to ensure the “bad guy” is not able to enter or shoot his way into the building at that site where there is a glass barrier at this time.

At the school board meeting, Parker noted they’ve discussed the projects of possibly renovating the old library and weight room, and making improvements to the parking lot and the track. Other improvements the bond issue revenues might allow are replacing at least one of the older boilers.

Parker said they will continue to look for ways to save money and will be frugal and careful with tax dollars. With the board’s approval, Parker said he will begin working on the ballot language and will share information with the community. He saw another school’s handout about its proposed project that explained what it is and what they plan to do. Parker wants something similar for Maries R-1 to help inform voters.

Board Vice President Penny Schoene asked about public meetings and Parker said yes as they go through the process he would like to have at least one public meeting. He’s been talking to an engineer and to LJ Hart, the bond management company. LJ Hart will assist in writing the ballot language. The information for the ballot is due at the Maries County Clerk’s office on Jan. 26, 2020 to be on the April Election ballot.

School board positions up for election on that same ballot are Schoene, Board President Cindy Petershagen, and Vicki Bade.

On other business at the December school board meeting:

• Three VHS senior class members, AJae Schell, Klaire Tappel, and Gavin Schwartze, were present to get the board’s approval for the senior trip. The class members plan to go to Panama City, Florida, leaving on May 3 at 8 p.m. Schell talked about some of the activities they plan to do including visiting Ripley’s Museum, parasailing and a theme park. He said thank you to the board members for letting them have this trip.

“The main thing is to be safe and have fun with your classmates,” said Petershagen.

“Behave. Have a good time, and be careful,” commented board member Dave Long.

• The board approved the 2018-2019 audit. Parker said there is a deficit because of the projects they had to take care of that included the elementary bathroom renovation, cafeteria renovations, and the new preschool playground.

• The board approved and set the summer school dates of May 19 through June 18, 2020 from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Parker said the last day of school at Maries R-1 could be two days before summer school begins. He wanted parents to know the summer school dates so they can plan. The district will use the same Summer Journey program in the elementary school as it was very successful last year. Summer school enrollment was the highest its been in recent history. Students with perfect attendance received a $100 gift card. Parker said they would like to work out some type of incentive for high school summer school attendance and possibly could offer gift cards because increased attendance would pay off because more students bumps up the ADA and the district’s money received from the state to pay for summer school.

• The board approved selling surplus equipment from the agriculture department including a Delta table saw and two stick welders. There are three items that have been replaced by enhancement grants so these are no longer needed.

• In the financial report, Parker said, because the December meeting is earlier due to the holiday, the district has not received any payment transmittals from DESE for December. He will include this in the January report.

The school district has received a payment from Maries County in local taxes of $343,019.20. He anticipates receiving another payment in January.

The December electric bill was $3,416.85. The previous December the bill was $4,262.95. There was no propane bill. Parker said the propane tank is down to 35 percent and he must really watch this because of a US Homeland Security rule about not being able to have more than 65,000 pounds in the tank, for terrorist target reasons. The school’s propane tank is very large and he is watching this closely to avoid jumping through hoops with Homeland Security.