Maize school board set to decide on putting $74.3 million bond issue before voters

Maize school board members are expected to decide Monday whether to send a $74.3 million bond issue to voters.

The proposed bond, which likely would be decided by mail-in ballot this summer, includes an expansion of Maize Middle School, a $12 million aquatic center, a new career and technical education center at Maize High and nearly $14 million in athletic upgrades.

Maize Superintendent Doug Powers said the board could opt to “do the whole enchilada,” or pare off the aquatic center and make it a separate ballot question.

Powers submitted his resignation to board members Thursday, saying he plans to take a school leadership position elsewhere in the state. He will continue to serve in Maize through June, however, and said he would shepherd the bond if it goes to voters this summer.

“That’s definitely my plan, to see this through,” Powers said.

If the district delays its bond vote past June, it could face another complication:

Kansas Senate Bill 171, a push to move local elections to the fall, was amended in a House committee last week to prohibit mail-only ballot elections for bond issues. Should the bill pass as amended, any bond issue or tax increase for school districts would have to be held at a primary or general election.

Powers said he also hopes to pass the bond before lawmakers make any changes to state equalization aid and while bond prices are low.

The Maize bond plan has changed since more than a year ago, when a committee presented its top priorities for facilities needs.

Leaders ruled out building a third middle school, saying it would cost too much to staff and operate. The board plans instead to expand and renovate Maize Middle School, for an estimated $18.5 million.

They also plan to include nearly $9 million worth of roof repairs and infrastructure upgrades.

Aquatics center controversial

The most controversial project on the proposed bond has been a $12 million aquatics center. In previous discussions, board members have debated whether the district could afford to maintain and operate it.

Last spring it looked like the pool was off the table altogether, in part because nearby Goddard was moving forward with plans for an Olympic-quality natatorium complex. Board members said the Goddard project could lessen Maize’s chances of hosting revenue-generating events, such as regional or state meets.

More recently, though, leaders opted to keep the pool in the bond proposal.

Powers said he realizes an aquatic center might be viewed as a luxury item. Some have noted on social media that the pool could become “Maize’s K.C. grand piano,” a reference to a recent purchase by the Kansas City, Kan., school district that became a symbolic example of wasteful school spending.

The superintendent sees it differently.

“The pool is first and foremost going to be part of our curriculum, just like our gymnasiums,” Powers said.

“It’s not there for just a swim team. Our intent would be that every student would, at each level, be exposed to swimming as part of the physical education curriculum. Our hope would be that every kid would walk out of here drown-proof.”

In addition, he said, the aquatic center would be proposed as a “community resource,” with times when any resident of the district would be able to swim.

“I see it as a real community asset here on the west side,” Powers said.

Currently, Maize’s high school swim teams practice at the Northwest YMCA, near 135th Street West and 21st Street.

Also in flux in the bond proposal is a plan to build a new, $6.7 million early childhood center. Maize’s early childhood programs currently are housed at Vermillion Elementary.

Vermillion has enough space to continue housing the preschool and Parents as Teachers programs for the near future, Powers said, so the board may opt to remove the free-standing center to cut nearly $7 million from the bond plan.

Still struggling with placement

And then there’s the placement issue, which board members also could address Monday.

For more than two years, Maize leaders have been grappling with how and whether to change the way the district assigns students to schools.

A survey of Maize families showed support for creating a feeder-pattern system to assign students to schools. Maize administrators, meanwhile, said geographic boundaries would be the best route.

Earlier this month a consultant with Olathe-based RSP Associates presented options for potential attendance boundaries.

“None of them was perfect,” Powers said. Even so, board members could finally decide which placement system they’d most like to pursue.

“We’ve been dealing with both these items hand-in-hand for a while now,” Powers said, referring to placement and the bond issue. “I think you’ll start to see some decisions on both.”

This story was originally published March 7, 2015 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Maize school board set to decide on putting $74.3 million bond issue before voters."