Winchester school superintendent Jeff Abell says it’s only fair that voters in the school district know the extent of the building of a new gym at the Winchester Grade School will cost before they vote.
Abell has been making presentations to the school board, and in each community this week. He has been in Glasgow, Alsey, and Manchester. He will be in Winchester tonight. The plans were also offered to the school board Tuesday.
It is an $8 and a half million bond for the gym. The previous gym was 8-thousand square feet, with seating for 700. He says the new proposal is a 9850 square feet with seating for 890.
Abell says the voters deserve to know what the school board is considering.
He says the new design is not a Cadillac design, but one that would serve the voting public.
If the referendum doesn’t pass, the project will be scaled down to about $4 and a half milion.
Abell says more details now cost money.
Design costs money, and he plans to pursue the design if the referendum passes November 3rd.
Abell says passage of the referendum would mean an increase of about $111 in property taxes on a $100-thousand home. Failure to approve the referendum would still mean a tax increase because the school district has to have a gym at the grade school. He says the impact of the same tax bills would be between $36 and $77 a year.