Silver Creek board details $62.9 million proposed projects, schedules town hall to explain tax impact

Superintendent Doctor Briggs told the Silver Creek School Corporation board on April 12 that proposed projects to address overcrowding would cost an estimated $62,856,250 and could be funded through bonds if voters approve a referendum.

Briggs said the package under discussion includes a primary school addition, a new elementary school, middle school reconfiguration, possible field house and preventive maintenance; he added the dollar figure was an estimate and that voters will ultimately decide whether to authorize bonds to pay for any projects.

The proposal matters because three of the district’s four schools are at or over capacity, Briggs said, and the district must decide whether to add physical space now or risk modular classrooms, larger class sizes, program reductions or other outcomes. He and other administrators traced the district’s current capital work to two recent bond issuances—around $60 million in 2021 and about $43 million in 2023—and outlined how those borrowings have affected the local tax rate.

“Total construction soft cost estimated bond totals, dollars $62,856,250,” Briggs said during the presentation. He also reviewed the district’s timeline: bond public hearings in 2021 and 2022, athletic and high‑school project bidding in 2022–23, and the issuance of $43…