Voters in Junction City have a second chance to weigh in on a school bond measure this May.
After voters turned down last spring’s $59 million bond, a committee asked for feedback and decided to reduce the scope of the measure. Junction City Superintendent Troy Stoops said, for example, if the 2024 bond was set to replace the HVAC system in a school, this year’s bond focuses on a portion of the building.
Stoops said this proposal is for $40 million, with a $6 million matching grant from the state. He said upgrades are needed at each of the district’s four schools.
“At Laurel Elementary," he told KLCC, "we actually have five lunch periods to get all the kids through the space, because it’s a small cafeteria. This proposal turns the cafeteria into two classrooms, moves the cafeteria into the existing gym, and then builds a new gym.”
The bond would also fund repairs to leaking roofs and outdated plumbing systems, would build a new classroom and reworked front office area at Territorial Elementary, construct a covered play area at Oaklea Middle School, and add secure entryways to every district school, among many other projects.
If the bond passes, property owners would pay $1.80 per thousand dollars of property value, which would start after a 2016 bond is paid off.
