NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A public vote for Buhler USD 313 patrons on a proposed $8 million bond issue will take place in person on April 4th, 2023, with advance voting starting March 27th.
Though it is a smaller part of the bond, upgrades to the playground equipment at the district's elementary schools is part of what will be voted on.
"Regulations have changed over the years," said Buhler Grade School principal Kurt Geilenfeldt. "There's new safety standards. There's new ADA compliance and accessibility standards. We're definitely a little bit behind the curve when it comes to needing some upgrades for our playgrounds."
The accessibility issue means some of the playgrounds will need to move a little.
"From the ground up, we're kind of looking at restructuring how our playgrounds are currently laid out," Geilenfeldt said. "There's definitely some grading issues and some ground cover issues that we want to take care of. Some of our playgrounds are spaced out quite a bit from where our blacktop areas are. We really want to pull those playground structures in closer to those surfaces, so students with special needs can go right into these playground areas."
They'd like to upgrade to some of the new rubberized surface, if there's money in the budget, but most of it will have to go for actual new equipment.
"We're definitely looking at what structures and what play surfaces are the most appropriate for our playgrounds, and of course, that's going to cause us to need to upgrade the actual equipment, as well."
The board is shooting for $800,000 to $850,000 of the $8 million bond to be able to be used for the playgrounds portion of the project.
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