A $12.2 million bond issue, designed to pay for building improvements and deferred maintenance without raising local property taxes, is scheduled to be finalized at the next Western Wayne Schools board meeting.
The largest expense category is the projected $1.2 million to $1.5 million for reroofing both Lincoln Middle/High School and Western Wayne Elementary School. Work also will include what Superintendent Andy Stover calls “priority projects” and a facelift at LMHS academic areas, including the flooring and walls. Athletic facilities will receive attention. At WWES, new desks for teachers and students will replace those in use since the building opened in 1996.
The new bond issue comes as a 2015 bond issue expires, so repaying the new bond holders will not increase property taxes, Stover said. Paying off the previous bond left the district with the capacity to issue up to $14 million in bonds.
“My number one priority is to ensure the tax rate does not increase,” Stover said. “This will be tax-rate neutral.”
The school board is expected to take action on May 8 to pass a resolution of needs, approve preliminary plans for the work, form a building corporation and approve issuing the bonds. Once that is done, processes will be started to advertise for contractors and develop contracts for the work. Construction is expected to start in August.
The board meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 6, in Room 80 at Lincoln Middle/High School, 205 Parkway Drive. The public may attend.
A version of this article appeared in the April 24 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.