MONROE — Voters in the rural School District of Black Hawk are once again being asked to increase spending on education in a referendum that’s appearing on the April 5 ballot.
The latest referendum seeks public approval for an $8.5 million renovation plan to the main building including the office areas; and follows the failure last year of a much more expansive, $14.5 million referendum question.
“The referendum is a no-nonsense attempt at fixing major infrastructure and safety issues that should have been fixed years ago,” a post on a pro-referendum social media page says. “The cost of this will only increase if we kick the can down the road.”
Indeed, District Administrator Willy Chambers said that after the failure of the previous referendum the school district researched public sentiment and gleaned that a scaled-down version would have a good chance at passage this spring.
“We feel like people seemed to support it if we didn’t have some of the extras,” he said.
Chambers said that eliminating such extras — including a second gymnasium — helped trim the price tag from last year’s plan by about $6 million.
The new plan still seeks to correct problems with a portion of the main school building that was constructed prior to 1975. Among other things, officials said, that portion of the facility is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, a federal law ensuring accessibility for all.
The renovated high school also will be safer once it’s complete as it reworks some existing ingress and egress issues that occur when parents are dropping off or picking up students in the parking lot area. In addition, a total of 13 classrooms will be updated and improved under the plan, changes that include technology that Chambers says has a direct impact on the student learning experience.
If approved, the measure would increase the district’s mill rate from 7.41 to 7.59, Chambers said, adding that the extra taxes on a $100,000 house in the district would likely only jump by about $104 per year from the change, he said.
“The impact on tax bills wouldn’t be great but it will have a significant impact on the schools,” he said. “I guess we will find out on April 5.”
The pro-referendum citizens group says that the district isn’t alone in needing to ask taxpayer for more money for facilities and education; and points out in an online post that Black Hawk has the lowest cost per student among other districts in the area.
The Black Hawk district currently serves about 375 students, primarily from the towns of Browntown, Gratiot, Martintown, South Wayne, Wiota and Woodford.
Chambers said that following the failure of the previous school referendum, rumors began circulating that perhaps Black Hawk would seek to dissolve the district, something that has been discussed in the nearby Palmyra district following failed referendums there.
However, with or without approval for the additional spending, the district has no plans to dissolve Black Hawk.
“There have been no conversations with the board about dissolving,” he said. “That’s not an easy process to do and we have no plans to close.”
Dissolving the district, he added, would simply reallocate the district’s debt to another taxing body and put pressure on another struggling rural district to serve the students currently attending Black Hawk Schools.
The next public information session on the renovation project and referendum question is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. March 24 in the high school commons. The district’s web site also includes links to statistics about Black Hawk, frequently asked questions and data on the value of rural districts to their communities.