Thank you to our Iowa Valley Tiger community for their support of both special election questions. Following the vote, the unofficial election results are:
✔ Question 1: 397 YES (73%) and 146 NO (27%)
✔ Question 2: 390 YES (72%) and 155 NO (28%)
We are grateful for your continued investment in our schools!
The Iowa Valley Community School District will hold a special election on March 7th, 2023 to authorize general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $10,615,000 for facility and learning environment improvements.
BALLOT QUESTIONS
Question 1
Shall the Board of Directors of the Iowa Valley Community School District in the County of Iowa, State of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $10,615,000 to provide funds to renovate, repair, remodel, improve, furnish, and equip the existing Elementary and Junior/Senior High School buildings?
Question 2
Shall the Board of Directors of the Iowa Valley Community School District in the County of Iowa, State of Iowa, be authorized to levy annually a tax exceeding Two Dollar and Seventy Cents ($2.70) per Thousand Dollars ($1,000), but not exceeding Four Dollars and Five Cents ($4.05) per Thousand Dollars ($1,000) of the assessed value of the taxable property within said school corporation to pay the principal of and interest on bonded indebtedness of said school corporation, it being understood that the approval of this proposition shall not limit the source of payment of the bonds and interest, but shall only operate to restrict the amount of bonds which may be issued?
IMPORTANT NOTE: The projects in Question 1 cannot be fully completed unless Question 2 passes. The State requires specific community authorization for bonding amounts that require higher than a 2.70 tax impact (Question 2).
HOW WE GOT HERE
The Iowa Valley CSD School Board, along with the District’s administration and a community facilities committee, reviewed findings from a comprehensive facility assessment and prioritized the identified needs during a series of board workshops.
PROJECT SCORE HIGHLIGHTS
The bond project is primarily focused on replacement and upgrading of the building systems and improving learning environments and security for students and staff.
Safe and Healthy Spaces
- Create safe and secure entry
- Improved ventilation and HVAC
- Upgrade outdated electrical systems
- Replace fire alarm system
- Remove asbestos throughout buildings
- Replace roofing
Learning Environments
- Update Career and Technical Education (CTE) space
- Update classroom fixtures and furnishings
- Upgrade to LED lighting and replace ceiling tiles
PROJECT SCOPE DETAILS
Safe and Healthy Spaces
- The existing Junior/Senior High entry has administration spaces on both sides of the entry hallway but currently allows visitors access to the building without passing through a secure check-in. The project will create a secure entry by remodeling and reconfiguring existing administrative spaces.
- Junior/Senior High classrooms are currently heated by many original steam radiators and steam piping that is well beyond its intended useful life. The classrooms currently have no ventilation or cooling. The project includes installing a new ventilation and cooling system to serve offices, classrooms and corridors and includes new hot water piping.
- Existing electrical systems in the Junior/Senior High schools are original to their respective building additions and have far exceeded their expected service life. Current electrical systems are not capable of supporting increased load associated with new ventilation and cooling systems. The project includes upgrading electrical service and distribution systems to meet NEC standards and building electrical loads.
- The fire alarm system at the Junior/Senior High School is out of date and beyond its expected service life. The project includes replacing the fire alarm system.
- The Elementary and Junior/Senior High Schools both have roofing systems that are actively leaking and well beyond expected service life. The project includes replacing the roofing systems at both schools.
- Asbestos is not an immediate or current health threat to our students and staff, however, asbestos is often found in the floor tile, glue that holds carpet and other areas of buildings similar in age to ours. We want to be sure we remove all of this asbestos and eliminate the concern while we are doing other work in our school spaces.
Learning Environments
- The current Career and Technical Education (CTE) shop and classroom spaces do not provide a learning environment that supports current teaching standards and curriculum needs of students. The project will update and remodel the existing CTE learning environments to meet current teaching standards and provide students with an opportunity to learn career and technical skills.
- The existing lighting systems in both the elementary and Junior/Senior High Schools utilize outdated fluorescent technology. Fluorescent lighting is less efficient in terms of energy costs and does not support an optimal indoor learning environment. The project includes installing new LED lighting technologies that will result in significant energy/budget savings as well as enhance student learning environments.
- In order to complete the updates to our heating, cooling and ventilation systems, as well as install LED lighting technologies, the existing ceiling grid system will be taken down in order to gain access and install these new systems. An all new ceiling grid and ceiling tiles will be installed as part of the project when this work is completed.
DID YOU KNOW?
Fiscal Responsibility
- The District has no existing bond debt.
- The District has managed past projects and deferred maintenance work without tax payer debt; however, our older buildings are now showing signs of need and many systems are beyond their life expectancy.
- Installation of new LED lighting technologies that will result in significant energy/budget savings as well as enhance student learning environments.
- Wind turbines will reduce the property tax burden on an annual basis as they come online.
Strategically Focused
- Referendum projects focus on both student programming and educational needs as well as protecting previous facility investments and extending longevity.
- Prepared students are the first step to a valuable workforce. Improvements in our Career and Technical Education (CTE) spaces will further help prepare graduates to fill many important jobs in our communities and beyond.
ATTEND AN OPEN HOUSE INFORMATIONAL MEETING TO LEARN MORE!
The purpose of these open houses is to show what facility and learning improvements will be taken care of with the passing of the school bond referendum vote on March 7th.
BOND OPEN HOUSE #2
Friday, February 10
2:30PM - start at the Elementary
will continue to the Jr/Sr High Building
LEARN MORE!
CONTACT
Curt Rheingans, Superintendent
crheingans@ivcsd.org
563-210-4948
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