Superintendent outlines uses for remaining 2024 bond funds and timing for next borrowing

Superintendent Klein presented the board with a proposed plan to spend the remainder of the district’s 2024 bond and explained when the district would need to pursue new borrowing to maintain its current levy.

Klein told the Spencer-Owen Community Schools board that most projects funded by earlier bonds are nearly complete and that a final punch item — a circuit/CO2 sensor at the transportation facility — remains. He said the district’s pre-2024 debt was about $21,599,000 and the 2024 bond added roughly $11,347,000, producing a larger total debt picture the superintendent presented to the board.

“We will have all of that debt paid off in 2034,” Klein said, noting the 2024 bond used a 10‑year repayment schedule. He described the board’s long-standing goal to keep the borrowing tax-neutral and credited work with advisors Baker Tilly and bond counsel Ice Miller to structure debt to minimize immediate levy pressure.

Klein recommended priorities for the remaining 2024 bond dollars, which he said must be spent by March 2027, including replacing two glass entry doors at the high school (to address water intrusion and safety on stairwells), replacing the auditorium roof to stop leaks around smoke hatches (a ballpark estimate of $150,000), targeted VAV (variable-air-volume) control updates across buildings and a range of athletics and site repairs. He presented a conservative cost range for tennis-court work from roughly $20,000 (overlay and reseal) up to about $350,000 for full base replacement, and said a middle-school weight-room renovation had quotes around $120,000.

Board members pressed for sequencing and priorities if projects come in under budget. Klein said if some projects are lower than estimated he would reallocate remaining funds to shorter-term needs such as a freezer or plumbing patches at particular schools.

Klein also told the board the district should begin due diligence on a potential 2028 bond in 2027 so that, if needed, the board could secure funds in 2028 and start repayments in 2029. “One of the goals of this board was to remain tax neutral,” he said. “We will need to do our due diligence in ’27, and then secure that bond in ’28 so we start paying it back in ’29.”

Next steps Klein described include coring and investigative work on problem athletic surfaces (tennis courts and track) before selecting remedial scope, soliciting final vendor quotes, and beginning to bring individual project items forward as formal action items at upcoming April and May board meetings.

The board did not vote on any bond actions in the work session; Klein said he will start presenting specific items to the board for approval in regular meetings over the spring.