Pieces are beginning to come together for Fremont Public Schools to bring a “no levy increase” bond proposal up to a vote.
On Monday, the board of education gave formal approval to have the administration move forward with a possible referendum on the issue in April 2009.
If a referendum were to be held, voters would be asked to maintain the current 21 cents per $100 assessed valuation levy to pay for bonds to complete several building projects throughout the district.
Those projects include:
n A 15,000-square-foot addition to Linden Elementary School and the demolition of the old two-story building. The school’s boiler also would be replaced.
n A 7,500-square-foot addition to Clarmar Elementary School along with remodeling for student services and an upgraded media library. The school’s boiler also would be replaced.
n Improve the front entry areas and address security issues at Clarmar, Grant, Howard and Washington elementary schools.
n A new fifth- and sixth-grade building to accommodate 700 to 800 students. The current middle school would then house only seventh and eighth grades.
n A 23,000-square-foot classroom and commons addition along with remodeling the family and consumer science classroom lab.
Additionally, the district would consider reorganizing the elementary schools into kindergarten through fourth-grade centers that would have room available for expansion.
The estimated cost for all of the projects is $22 million to $24 million.
Administrators have said the proposed projects would allow the district to handle 800 additional students. The district has more than 4,600 students now and enrollment has grown in the past few years.
Enrollment figures for the 2008-09 school year won’t be available until the September school board meeting.
Throughout the late spring and summer, the district has worked to hire an architectural firm, a construction manager and a fiscal agent for the project.
On Monday, the board agreed to hire D.A. Davidson and Co. as its
fiscal agent to sell bonds if they are approved by voters. The company has done work with the district in the past, including refinancing the current bonds that saved the district about $750,000.
The firm was chosen over Ameritus.
Both presented proposals to the school board on Monday night.
Board members discussed both proposals and found them to be similar, including the fee each firm would charge to handle the bond transaction. End the end, it came down to working with a group they were familiar with.
That was similar to the approach used in hiring an architectural firm and construction manager. The top candidates for each of those positions had similar qualifications and proposals.
In the end, the board chose to work with BVH Architects of Omaha for architectural services and RL Fauss Builders Inc. of Fremont for construction management.
All three of the firms will help in pre-election activities, including assisting in developing items for community meetings. And all three have agreed to waive fees if the bond referendum is not successful.
In other business, the board:
n Heard about the maintenance work that was performed during the summer. That included painting 40 classrooms, installing water coolers at Milliken Park Elementary School, assisting with the installation of playground equipment and other playground improvements at Platteville Elementary, renovating the gym floor at Howard Elementary, replacing tile in some classrooms at Linden Elementary and Davenport Early Learning Center and remodeling the art room at Grant Elementary.
At the high school, the parking lot was resurfaced, logos were repainted on the gym floor, the gym’s scoreboard was replaced and the practice field turf was renovated.
Additional, custodial staff cleaned and waxed the approximately 1 million square feet of floors throughout the district in preparation of the upcoming school year.
n Approved the donation of $4,500 from the Howard Elementary PTA for guided reading materials, maps, globes and physical education circuit center materials.
n Tabled discussion on the first reading of a revised administrator/teacher early separation program to allow negotiations with the Fremont Education Association.
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