‘Proposition Flyers’ seeks to add gym, classrooms at Fairview Schools

Voters in the Fairview R-XI school district will see Proposition Flyers on their ballots next week. Find the complete ballot language CLICK HERE. To summarize, the district is seeking to raise five million dollars with a property tax levy of $0.57 per one hundred dollars of assessed valuation. The tax will be a debt service, meaning the district will borrow the money and use the taxes to pay it off over a period of twenty years. The current debt service levy in the district is $0.00, so this will be a tax increase. 

 

The tax increase will affect each household differently, but the district provided the chart in Figure 1 as a guide for what to expect from the increase. 

 

According to the ballot language, the funds are to be used for a classroom and gymnasium expansion project, and other repairs and improvements on existing facilities. The funds cannot be used for any other purpose. 

 

Following their March 24 meeting, the Fairview school board issued a press release in support of Proposition Flyers. 

 

“As a Board, we felt it was necessary to publicly express our support for the ballot measure. The projects included within the ballot language were thoughtfully considered and represent the priorities of the district as a whole,” said board president Brian Martin via the release. 

 

Superintendent of Schools, Aaron Sydow, said in the release that the completion of classroom expansion and gymnasium have been a long-term goal of the board. The district has saved $2 million in the hope of expanding the gymnasium without debt or a tax increase, but is “unable to out-save inflation,” according to an informational pamphlet from the district. 

 

In an interview on March 27, Sydow described the project. The current gym has a low capacity and is antiquated. It does not meet the district’s needs for daily use for physical education classes, and any additional events, such as blood drive or drama productions, require the gym to be shut down, he said. Scheduling sports practices is complicated as well. 

 

The proposal includes a new early childhood education facility and allows for the centralization of nurse and counselors’ offices. which are currently in classroom spaces. The expansion will provide more traditional office spaces for those services and free up the classrooms, Sydow said. 

 

Patrons have had a generally favorable reaction to the proposal, Sydow said, with many parents recognizing the need for a new gym. 

 

Election Day is April 7.