Superintendent's Message for February 2019

The Villisca Community has had a rich tradition of supporting the Villisca Community Schools and the two campuses we have in town.  In 2001, after a successful bond referendum, the district opened a one story building that replaced the old three story building that houses the Southwest Valley Middle School today.  Enarson Elementary School has been around since the late 1950’s and has been added on to and a state of the art rec center added to this campus.  Throughout these two facilities life span a few updates have been made to meet the requirements at the time. 

In October of 2018, we tested our boiler system at the older part of the middle school and had complete failure of the steam system.  We had crews that came out to repair it, but the system was still not operating correctly and we brought in temporary heat to ensure our gym and music classroom would have heat.  At this time, I brought in our school’s architecture firm, Shive Hattery to analyze and give us a thorough report of all our HVAC, plumbing, fire alarm system, and electrical systems.  Their report was presented to the board in November, and it was decided we needed a bond referendum to ensure our facilities would be able to operate for the next twenty years. 

The bond referendum is asking for the Villisca Community to allow the Villisca Community Schools to issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $6,005,000 to provide funds to repair, improve, and equip the Enarson Elementary and Villisca Middle School buildings, including HVAC, fire alarm systems, roof improvements, and plumbing.

Two informational meetings will be held March 5th and March 19th at 6:30 pm in the Middle School media center.  The vote is scheduled for April 2nd with polls opening at noon and closing at 8 pm.  

Q and A

1.  Why are we needing all this done now?  

Both of our facilities are heavily used buildings and need updating to remain functional buildings.  Passing a bond referendum now ensures we get all the work we need done now and provide our children with the facilities they deserve.

1. What will this do to my taxes?

The fourteen-year average tax rate is 16.11 per $1,000 assessed value.  Your tax rate will be 15.50-15.60 after a successful bond referendum.  They would also stay steady at that rate for the life of the bonds.  The school will make every effort to pay down the bonds quicker if possible.  The school will make the last payment on the middle school this year.

1. What happens if the bond doesn’t pass? 

The Board and Administration are confident in the Villisca community that we will pass this on the first ballot.  If it was defeated, we would try again in November to run a referendum.  Some of the facilities require immediate attention and the funds will help us provide the safest environment for our students. 

If you have further questions on this bond referendum, please call me or stop into the Middle School office on Tuesday or Thursday’s and I would be glad to answer all your questions.  I am excited about the future of the Villisca facilities and the support the community has for our school. 

Chris Fenster, Superintendent