C o n t r o v e r s y . Some controversy over
In Nov 2001, the USD 497
the bond issue stems from the implicit coupling
of the bond’s success with closure of two
elementary schools. Bond funds would be
spent to enlarge Cordley and New York, in
order to consolidate Centennial with Cordley
and East Heights with New York.
C o s t t o t a x p a y e r s . At current interest
rates, this 20-year bond would add about $93.91
in annual property taxes to a home appraised at
$135,000, the 2003 median value for houses
within the District.
What would the bond pay for?
(sf=square feet; M=million)
• Cordley Elem: Renovation of 2,600 sf; new
construction of 18,600 sf, required to make a 2-
section school $4.64 M
• New York Elem: Renovation of 5,000 sf; new
construction of 17,400 sf, required to make a 2-
section school $3.34 M
• New construction required to allow
elmination of portable classrooms at the
following schools:
Broken Arrow Elem: 7,700 sf $0.66 M
Deerfield Elem: 8,837 sf $1.36 M
Hillcrest Elem: 3,770 sf $0.58 M
Kennedy Elem: 1,170 sf $0.38 M
Quail Run Elem: 3,055 sf $0.47 M
Sunset Hill Elem: 5,821 sf $0.90 M
Wakarusa Valley Elem: 3,612 sf $0.57 M
• Central JH: Renovation of 30,860 sf $3.26 M
• South JH: Demolition; construction of new
building of 120,000 sf $21.19 M
• Southwest JH: New construction of 15,960 sf,
required to eliminate portable classrooms and
expand cafeteria $2.51 M
• West JH: Renovation of 30,720 sf $3.29 M
• Lawrence High: Renovation of 8,700 sf; new
construction of 14,252 sf to expand P.E. spaces
and science labs $8.97 M
• Lawrence Alternative High: Renovation of
existing building of 6,372 sf; new construction
of 44,278 sf, required to eliminate portable
classrooms and expand facilities to allow
enrollment of 9th grade students $6.82 M
Wording of the bond issue, as it will appear on
the ballot:
Shall the following be adopted?
Shall Unified School District No. 497, Douglas
County, Kansas (Lawrence), issue general obligation
bonds in an amount not to exceed $59,000,000, to
pay the costs to: (i) construct additions to and
renovate, furnish and equip Cordley Elementary and
New York Elementary Schools to accommodate
some or all students who previously attended
Centennial Elementary and East Heights Elementary
Schools; (ii) demolish the existing South Junior High
School and construct, furnish and equip a new South
Junior High School on its existing site; (iii) construct
additions to and renovate, furnish and equip Broken
Arrow Elementary School; (iv) renovate, furnish and
equip Lawrence High School; (v) construct additions
to and renovate, furnish and equip Lawrence
Alternative High School; (vi) construct additions to
and renovate, furnish and equip existing junior high
schools; (vii) construct additions to and renovate,
furnish and equip existing elementary schools; and
(viii) make all other necessary improvements
appurtenant thereto; all pursuant to the provisions of
K.S.A. 10-101 et seq.; K.S.A. 25-2018(f); K.S.A. 75-
2315 et seq. and K.S.A. 72-6761?
To vote in favor of any question submitted on this
ballot, darken the oval to the left of the word “Yes.”
To vote against it, darken the oval to the left of the
word “No.”
• YES
• NO
B a c k g r o u n d .
Information on Board of Education hired DLR Group, an
Overland Park consulting firm, to perform a
comprehensive educational facilities study and
the 2003 USD 497 formulate a 20-year facility improvement plan
for the District. The consultants inspected
existing facilities for needs and met with
stakeholder groups, including administrators,
school bond teachers, parents, and community members,
before presenting their recommendations to the
Board in Oct 2002. DLR’s recommendations
ballot issue comprised different packages of options for
facility improvements. The Board combined
selected elements into a proposal that would be
funded by the present bond issue. While the
proposal addresses many recommendations
found in the 20-year plan, it calls only for
renovation of, additions to, or replacement of
existing buildings. It is anticipated that all
bond projects will be completed by Aug 2005.
B o n d s u c c e s s . Since 1993, some 55% of
all school bond issues put before Kansas voters
have passed. However, bond issues have met
with more success in recent years in USD 497.
The bond issue that provided for construction
of Free State High was defeated when it first
came before voters in 1990, but a slightly
different proposal passed in 1994. Two other
bond issues passed in 1992 and 1998.
B o n d i n d e b t e d n e s s . At $59 million,
this bond would be the largest adopted in USD
497 history, bringing the District’s bonded
indebtedness to over $120 million, or 16.5% of
compiled by the the assessed valuation of its property. But how
would that compare with other Kansas school
League of Women Voters of districts? Data for 2002 are unavailable, but in
2001, 171 of 303 districts reported outstanding
Lawrence–Douglas County bond debts. Districts varied widely in size and
the size of their debt. However, debts ranged
from 0.1–46% of each district’s assessed valu-
ation, with a median value of 14.4%. Then at
$73.2 million, USD 497’s debt ranked 4th in the
Vote April 1st! state in size, but –at 10.6% of the assessed
valuation of District property– 106th in the ratio
of debt to valuation.
S u p p o r t e r s s a y …
• State law prohibits districts from raising taxes
for operational costs such as teachers and
programs, but districts are allowed to ask the
community to provide funds for facilities. This
bond would allow the District to take care of
many overdue maintenance issues.
• The plan has been 18 months in the making,
is the result of an extensive review of all school
facility needs, and reflects long-range planning.
• The proposal promotes equity of educational
offerings across the District by addressing
baseline needs of all schools.
• The proposal is based on both 2- and 3-
section schools. The District is committed to
making all elementary schools at least 2-section
schools. The District reports that the majority
of its teachers have told them they want to
teach in a school where they have at least one
other grade-level peer with whom to
collaborate and co-teach.
• The master plan and educational
programming model commits full-time
resource staff in a variety of specialties to all
schools, thereby providing needed extra
resources to the 2-section schools with high
need students.
• Research shows that –all other variables being
equal– students in small classes achieve at
higher levels, particularly at-risk children and
those from low income families. Schools with
at least 2 sections for each grade offer greater
opportunity to achieve small class sizes and to
avoid combination classes.
• Passage of the bond could free up funds to
provide an additional $1.4 million in annual
operational funds, about $140 per pupil per
year.
Some background data for this pamphlet were obtained from the Kansas Dept of Ed website (www.ksbe.state.ks.us/). Data on proposed expenditures were obtained from the USD 497 website (www.usd497.org/). Statements for and against
the bond issue were solicited by the League from prominent supporters and opponents and other community members. Statements on particular aspects of the bond were selected by the frequency with which they were offered; they have
been edited for length and uniformity of style. While we have made every effort to check these statements for factual accuracy, we make no claim for any of the assertions provided by supporters or opponents of the bond issue.
REPRODUCTION OF THIS PAMPHLET IS ENCOURAGED BY THE LEAGUE!
• Consolidation of schools will result in schools
with populations of fewer than 300 students, a
number considered by much school research as
“a small school,” and fewer students than those
schools had at the height of past enrollments.
• The bond issue invests in the core of the city,
with $43 of the $59 million of the bond
proceeds being spent on buildings that are east
of Iowa Street. Even with the proposed
consolidations, virtually every family living in
those neighborhoods will be less than a mile
from an operating elementary school.
• The bond would build no new buildings in
our community’s growth areas. All of the
money goes into our existing facilities.
• The plan eliminates the use of portable
classrooms, which were designed to be
temporary fixes, not permanent structures.
• The plan solves safety and accessibility issues
and addresses asbestos and HVAC, plumbing,
electrical, and mechanical infrastructure needs.
• $6.8 million has been allocated to renovate
the Alternative High because the current
facility is inadequate. The bond proposal
allows for an expanded program to serve more
students and to add 9th graders. The costs are
in line with what this community spent per
student for Free State High.
• This plan prepares the District for the future
by taking care of current facilities and
positioning the District to address community
growth to the NW, W, and SE.
• The District’s bonded indebtedness is low
compared to districts of similar size in our area.
• This is an opportune time for a bond with
low interest rates, a favorable bond market, and
a competitive construction market.
O p p o n e n t s s a y …
• The bond issue unfairly joins together two
disparate issues: new school facilities, and
school closings. There is no way to vote for
needed renovations without also appearing to
support school closings.
• The proposal to consolidate schools ignores
the interrelationship between schools and
neighborhoods; many citizens speaking at
School Board hearings valued neighborhood
schools more than equal facilities.
• Closing east-side schools is educationally and
morally wrong. These are our most vulnerable
children with a large proportion in the free and
reduced-cost lunch program. These smaller
schools are better able than larger schools to
provide for their special needs in reading,
writing, and mathematics.
• Research demonstrates that truly small (150-
pupil) schools are best for at-risk students.
• No positive correlation has been established
between the building projects proposed by this
bond issue and better teaching and learning.
• DLR will receive contingency fees of about
5% of the full amount of the bond for program
and construction management services, in
addition to consulting fees already paid.
• Just as the bond issue for Free State High that
passed met more of the District’s needs than the
one that failed, we could create a better bond
issue tailored to the vision of our community.
• Projected annual savings of $1.4 million from
the school closings are probably illusory. The
District estimated savings of $240,000 annually
by closing Grant Elementary, but only $55,000
of that has been identified. We will pay some
of the money saved in operational funds on the
additional interest on the bonds.
• The $1.4 million that may become available in
additional operating funds doesn’t come close
to making up for recent budget cuts. The
District can obtain sufficient operational
funding only through the State Legislature.
• The bond issue allocates $6.8 million to
expand the Alternative High, which serves
fewer students than either one of the
neighborhood elementary schools that would
be closed for “being too small.”
• The DLR proposal is a 20-year plan, yet all
the money raised by the bond will be borrowed
and spent in the first 3 years.
• $59 million is a lot of money, and there are a
great number of projects in this proposal to
manage efficiently. It should not be done in
one bond issue; proper planning for all the
projects cannot be done in one year.
• Not all the projects are “highest priority.”
Though it may be necessary to replace South Jr
High, it does not need emergency replacement
now. Some delays could be also be
accommodated in the improvements to the
Lawrence High’s locker and weight training
rooms and the gymnasium entrance.
• The District has done little to plan for growth
and change. This bond covers no new
construction in developing areas and it is likely
we will soon be asked to pass another bond to
pay for more new facilities.
• The proposed bond issue is far too high. The
District has $61.2 million of earlier bonds to be
paid off. Furthermore, planned and necessary
increases in city and county taxes, as well as an
all but inevitable rise in state taxes, make this
bond too great a burden to place on residents at
this time.