By ROD ZOOK
Hutch Post
NICKERSON, Kan. — The Nickerson USD 309 School Board has come to an agreement on a new bond issue for the district, although it is just a number right now. No specifics were given as to where a 10-year, $10.5 million bond would go, although a large list of needs exists.
“The first thing we can do is identify an architect to begin putting together some renderings,” Superintendent Curtis Nightingale said. “Then we will begin whittling through the process of identifying your construction management at risk.”
Nightingale says the district has assembled a list of needs that will be sifted through before decisions are made.
“We did kind of a needs assessment in-house. Obviously those people that are in the buildings the most know where the issues are,” Nightingale said. “We created some lists and then we had a job cost analysis done.”
A facilities committee has been working to weigh what is needed most in the bond. While the bond may not cover everything, the district is also changing the way it uses its capital outlay funds that may help fund projects the bond issue doesn’t cover.
“In the past what school districts would do is just allow that account to grow and then at some point they can use those dollars for a major project,” Nightingale said. “I think the philosophy of the board this time around would be, we’re going to decide on what’s our bottom number, meaning what’s the amount of balance we want to carry over from year to year.”
Once that number is decided, Nightingale says anything above that number will be used for projects that need attention.
Nightingale says the job costs, along with actual construction costs, will determine just how far the $10.5 million will go. No date was set for how soon the district will set what will go into the actual bond proposal.
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