Informational meeting to be held March 24 to discuss Propositions

Saturday, March 20, 2021
Nevada R-5 Superintendent Dr. Tyson Beshore spoke recently about the two Propositions put forth by the district that will appear on the April 6 ballot: A tax increase bond to fund the construction of a new elementary school and a no-tax increase bond to generate funds for district improvements.
Photo by Sarah Haney | Daily Mail Editor

The Nevada R-5 School District has two bond issues that will be on the April 6 ballot. They are a tax increase bond to fund the construction of a new elementary building, and a no-tax increase bond to generate funds for district improvements.

"The past six months have been challenging to say the least," stated Nevada R-5 Superintendent Dr. Tyson Beshore in reference to the pandemic's impact and the delay it caused on the district's mission with the two propositions. "One of the things we did, previously, we were going to have everybody come in and do a survey. This was not a possibility due to COVID, and so we ended up sending out information."

Beshore stated that the district had 574 respondents from school families and people throughout the district. He then touched on the main items from the summary of those responses. These included:

• The community is proud of the district.

• The community understands that Bryan and Benton elementaries are most in need. Bryan Elementary houses the district's kindergarten and first grade students, while Benton Elementary houses the second grade students.

Beshore noted that the district was looking at three different areas: Quality, scope, and price. "Of the respondents, 90 percent would like to see a new project being done within the next five years," stated Beshore. "The different values — the consensus was split between $25 million and $45 million to spend on that." Seventy-seven percent of the respondents agreed that the district should engage in a new building project and 74 percent of those said they would support that project financially. "That is huge numbers for us," noted Beshore. "We're excited about that."

After the survey was reviewed, the district formed a Facilities Planning Committee. "I had different individuals throughout the community — we had representation from each school in the district — as well as my assistant Jodie McNeley and myself," stated Beshore. "We had about 25 people involved in that process."

The committee then came up with a list of the district's biggest priorities to be addressed. These included the following seven areas:

• The roofs and the HVAC systems across the district need to be upgraded.

• Benton Elementary, Bryan Elementary, Parents as Teachers (PAT), and Early Childhood (ECC).

• The Bowman building, located near the YMCA. "We (the district) got that from the state hospital years ago," noted Beshore. "To vacate that premises is what we'd like to do."

• "If you've been to Logan Field in the past 20 years, the bleachers have not changed, except getting worse," stated Beshore. "So, the football field stands and press box was another pressing issue."

• Middle School Bleachers - "If you've been inside the middle school bleachers, those are — to our knowledge — original to the building," noted Beshore.

• High School and Middle School restrooms.

• Middle School lockers.

"Another one the committee really looked at was key fobs and the building access system," stated Beshore. "But, those were the seven top ones that we had."

Beshore noted that the key fobs would not be pursued at this time due to the cost. "Middle School and High School restrooms and Middle School lockers — not going to pursue those at this time," added Beshore. "And the Middle School bleachers, we are looking at taking care of those within the general budget of the district."

In reference to the two bond issues, Beshore explained, "The first one is Proposition K.I.D.S., which stands for Keep Improving District Schools and it's a no-tax increase." With this bond issue, the district would take care of the remaining four issues addressed — the roofs, HVAC upgrades, football field stands and the press box.

"And then, with the Proposition New Elementary School, that would take care of the issues we have at Benton, Bryan, PAT, ECC, as well as vacating Bowman," he added.

An community informational meeting will be held at 6 p.m., in the Ella Maxwell Performing Arts Center at the Nevada High School on Wednesday, March 24, for anyone interested in hearing more in-depth about the two propositions on the April 6 ballot.

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