Macon County residents will vote on a $13 million bond issue this April proposed by the R-1 Macon County Public School District. Residents can expect a 65 cent tax increase if the bond is successful. The revenue from the bond will fund overall school facility renovations outlined in the school’s concept plan.
“Our community knows we’re just out of space," Chuck Stockton, Macon County School District Superintendent said. "We’ve got elementary class rooms in the middle school, we’ve got middle school class rooms in our high school, we’ve moved high school classes into teacher work rooms and so forth, and we’re just using spaces that just weren’t intended to be instructional spaces."
Currently, the entire k-12 campus runs north to south along Highway 63 under one roof. The project will fund a new elementary center, as well as a multipurpose center. The additions will happen in two disbursements, in a five year span.
The district will build the elementary school as a part of the first phase of the project, which has an estimated cost of $9.3 million. The second wave of construction will consist of the multipurpose facility and will use the remaining $3.6 million of the budget. Additional structural enhancements include safety benefits.
“Safety is critical for our kids, and we need to know whose coming and going and make that a little bit easier and more effective for everyone to manage in this day and age for safety purposes,” said Macon County resident Tracy Vincent.
The plan will include an expanded parking lot, a college and career center, renovations to the middle school gym, and new doors and windows. The concept plan is estimated to take seven years from start to finish if passed this April.
