I believe there are some misconceptions about the bond issue that need to be clarified before they turn into those elusive "known facts". "officials will try to sneak in the turf" - not going to happen. The voters spoke very clearly that they did not want taxpayer dollars used for artificial surface on the football field. If individuals or business want to donate money for that project that would certainly be considered, but it is not going to be done with taxpayer money. "The Super. was on KOGT this morning already saying it wasn't enough money to do what he wanted to do and they were going to be short on completing some of the items on the list" - I did not hear that broadcast so I can't speak specifically to that, but I can assure you that somewhere along the line there was a failure to communicate. So in an effort to remedy that failure, here are the facts of the situation. The board consulted with architects and engineers to make the best estimate we could of the construction cost on these projects, we included what we believe is a sufficient cushion for unexpected costs and we do believe firmly that there will be plenty of money available to complete all the projects listed under proposition 1. When considering what items to put on the ballot, we discussed all the items publicly and we got a lot of feedback from the public about how they felt about these issues. It was decided to put the turf on a separate proposition because it was obvious from that feedback that there was a good chance the turf issue could cause the entire package to fail. From the results of the election it looks like that was exactly the case. In fact, leaving the improvements to the football stadium and baseball and softball facilities on proposition 1 also lessened it's chance of passing. I'm sure anyone who reads this list is aware that there are a number of people who are going to vote against anything that includes money for athletics. In spite of it making it more difficult to pass the bonds, we decided to leave the athletic improvements on proposition 1 because we do understand just how important they are. Fortunately there were enough well informed and far sighted individuals in the community that the main bond proposition did pass, and now we will move as quickly as possible to get all of these projects completed. The board did indeed prioritize the projects, and in the event of unexpected circumstances some projects will be completed before others. 'IF" we should run short of money the ones on the bottom of the list may not get done. Note that I said "unexpected" circumstances. We do believe we have planned for enough money to complete all projects, but it would do no one any good for us to stick our heads in the sand and pretend that unexpected things never occur. That list of priorities was clearly spelled out in the documentation that was distributed to parents and voters in the district. For those that aren't aware, here is the list in order of priority. 1. New elementary school 2. Improvements to the Middle School campus 3. Improvements to the High School campus 4. Provide an auditorium for our band, choir and drama students 5. Improvements to the High School Football stadium 6. Improvements to the Softball facilities 7 Improvements to the Baseball facilities I would like to thank those individuals who did take the time to go vote. Harry Barclay WOCCISD Board President
