Voters living in five Tulsa County school districts are being asked to go to the polls Tuesday for school bond and school board elections.
Bixby residents will vote on the district's largest bond issue ever. Of the $142.4 million at stake, $139 million is for school renovations and three entirely new schools. District spokeswoman Dee Harris said they built the ninth-grade center during the district’s last bond issue.
"That building was pretty much full when we moved in," Harris said. "It's going to be a bad situation if the bond does not pass."
Bixby school officials estimate the district will grow from 6,000 students to more than 8,400 in the next decade. If this bond issue is passed, property taxes would go up about $84 a year for a $100,000 home.
Jenks Public Schools have $11 million worth of school bonds on the ballot. The money will pay for facility improvements, a middle school cafeteria expansion and transportation needs, among other things.
District spokesman Rob Loeber said their previous 52 bond issues have been approved by voters.
"There's always a little bit of nervousness, not really knowing how it's going to turn out, but I think we've done an effective job in getting the word out to people, stressing why this is important, especially in this day and time," Loeber said.
The bonds require a 60 percent super-majority to pass. Jenks’ bond issue would not increase property taxes.
Union Public Schools have $27 million at stake, about $15 million of which will go toward a new elementary school near 31st Street and Garnett Road.
"Very important, this bond issue on Tuesday, to launch phase one so that we can begin construction and have it ready to go — at least half of it done — in the fall of 2017," said Superintendent Kirt Hartzler.
Union’s bond issue is divided between $25.5 million for schools themselves and $1.5 million for transportation.
Berryhill Public Schools also have a bond vote tomorrow, with $300,000 on the ballot, and Tulsa Public Schools’ district five has a school board spot up for grabs.
