PRETTY PRAIRIE, Kan. — Pretty Prairie USD 311 will have a bond issue on the ballot September 6. USD 311 Superintendent Ashley Anderson made it clear that the things they are looking to do are needs. It starts with windows.
"Our grade school was built in the 1950s and our windows are still original there," Anderson said. "At the high school, they've been replaced, obviously, because that's a 100 year old building, but when you walk inside our high school now, we've got towels and rags and washcloths all around the perimeter of all of our windows. They look great from the outside. They don't from the inside. We've got a lot of drafting and stuff in there."
The buildings also need new roofs.
"We've got some soft spots and a few leaks, which happens over a duration of time," Anderson said. "We're looking to do that and weatherproofing all of our brick exterior on all the buildings. We also have a great auditorium. A beautiful auditorium, actually, with new seating put in a few years ago. Our ceiling in there, just because of the roof above it needs some repairs and so we're looking to do that."
Also, the state champions in girls basketball need a new home court, for safety reasons.
"We're trying to get a safer competition gym," Anderson said. "Right now, our high school gym is very Hoosieresque, if you will. We love it, so many great memories and just moments in Pretty Prairie history in that gym, but that court is just so narrow. We have to use a restraining line, to play basketball in there."
The steps to the all concrete stands at the current high school gym are just 18 inches off the court and they've had officials trip and people get hurt getting knocked on to the steps from the playing court, so they're looking to flip the court at the middle school and use additional land to the north to allow for putting in concession stands and new locker rooms there to let the competition gym be at the middle school, if the bond passes.
The taxes would be fairly significant, but they've made it clear what most patrons should pay.
"Overall, it's a $10.4 million bond over 20 years," Anderson said. "If a home is valued at $50,000, the monthly increase for taxpayers is going to be $14. If the home is valued at $100,000, the monthly increase would be $28. Commercial property, if it's valued at $100,000, the monthly increase to taxes would be $60, almost $61. Then, for agricultural land, we did those projections annually per acre. For grassland, it's 41 cents per acre each year. For dry cropland, its $1.62 per acre per year and then for irrigated cropland, it's $3.41 per acre per year."
As of last year, 317 students were enrolled at USD 311.