Dr. Lisa Muller outlines Pryor Public Schools' 2026 bond proposal, says April 7 election set

Dr. Lisa Muller told the EDTA that the Pryor Public Schools 2026 bond election will be held April 7 and that residents in the Pryor public school district must register by March 13 to vote.

Muller said the proposal is phase one of a three-phase long-range plan through 2034 that responds to steady post-pandemic enrollment growth. "Our enrollment continues to increase," she said, noting district numbers rebounded quickly after 2020 and have grown each year since. She described the bond as a 15-year financing package that, she said, is structured so it will not raise current property tax rates.

The 2026 proposal would fund a new middle school for seventh- and eighth-graders on district-owned land across from the stadium; the current middle school would be reconfigured to serve fifth and sixth grades as an intermediate campus. "We will be asking for funds for a new middle school building that will serve seventh and eighth graders," Muller said. She said the new site is set back from Ninth Street, with separate parent drop-off and bus loops designed to limit congestion.

Muller reviewed work completed under the 2022 bond — including a raised media center, additional classrooms, a new maintenance facility and stadium phase 1 — and said only a few elements remain under construction. For the 2026 package she flagged stadium phase two (the fieldhouse and an indoor practice alternate), new space for athletics and band, and ongoing facility maintenance such as roof and HVAC replacements. She said the fieldhouse would include locker rooms, training and hospitality space and that alternates (indoor practice facility, other add-ons) will depend on bid results.

Responding to questions about state legislative activity and a pending state question, Muller said some proposed state changes could shift tax burdens between categories of property but that the bond "would fall into the exempt category" and that the district is monitoring developments. A trustee noted local concerns about traffic on Ninth Street; Muller said the middle school was designed to accommodate a future road widening and that drop-off patterns should avoid conflict with stadium events.

Muller reiterated that the district is proposing the bond without a tax increase because increasing assessed valuation and retiring prior bonds will keep the millage stable. She pointed to historical trends in which Pryor's millage has come in below consultant projections and said the district expects the same. "This is a no tax increase proposal," she said.

The presentation closed with a timeline overview for later phases: a 2030 high-school classroom addition and campus projects (tennis courts, locker rooms, band instrument rotations and instructional technology), and a possible 2034 elementary project if population trends continue.

No formal vote on the bond occurred at the meeting; the presentation was informational and aimed at preparing local leaders and the public ahead of the April 7 election.