BROKEN BOW — A $26 million dollar bond to address facilities and program updates for Broken Bow Public Schools was passed by the voters after the ballot closed on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
According to Custer County Clerk Constance Gracy, the voter turnout was 1,873, with 1,135 voting for the bond, 738 voting against.
The Broken Bow Board of Education called a bond election in an amount not to exceed $26,500,000 to address, “urgent facility and program needs,” according to Build Bow Together, the group working to get the bond passed.
The 2023 bond election takes place in the shadow of a failed $29 million bond issue in 2021 that saw 848 vote no, while 503 voted in favor of the issue.
The 2023 bond differed from the 2021 issue in that this bond saves money by focusing more on renovation, rather than new construction.
With the vote, the district will be able to make improvements to their middle school and high school facilities.
“There are many areas that need to be addressed which are currently falling short of meeting educational needs. In order to better serve our students and provide them with a competitive learning environment, this bond will focus on the Agriculture and Vocational trade facilities and the Science classrooms and labs,” Build Bow Together’s website stated.
There will be 39,000 square feet of new construction, 78,900 square feet of renovation work, 65 percent of the new construction would be a new agriculture, auto, metals and woods facility.
Completion of the work will take around 18 months, with construction starting in the spring of 2024.
Other upgrades would include the replacement of the current HVAC system with a new energy efficient system, safety upgrades would include a single main entrance and all students under one roof. There would also be fire code and ADA compliance updates.
Also included in the bond, renovation of current high school science into a joint high school and middle school science department including labs; renovation of auditorium into fine arts center; renovated space for updated Business classroom with lab; addition of a hallway from existing MS to AB and Wrestling buildings; new roof for existing high school building and renovating of HS gym for cross courts for practice and youth tournaments.