Superintendent makes case for passage

The January 13th meeting of the Eufaula School Board was the culmination of several months of meetings and planning of the Capital Improvements Committee composed of parents, community members, local business owners, educators and representatives from the Local School Board.

The goal of this committee was to identify current and future needs for our school and community to continue to meet the needs of our students.

After the needs were identified they were prioritized from most urgent to least urgent. The committee was then asked to make a recommendation to the Board of Education as to how to meet as many of these needs as possible without raising the current level of taxation.

The patrons of the Eufaula School District currently pay 13.54 mills of Ad Valorem Taxes to the school sinking fund to cover the current bond obligations.

The district will have all of those commitments paid off in the next two years and it creates a unique opportunity to make significant Capital Improvements while maintaining the current rate of taxation.

When comparing the Eufaula level of sinking fund millage to the 26 public schools in 3A football the current 13.54 millage rate ranks 22nd.

Due to long term planning and wise decision making by previous administrations, boards and community support, the residents of Eufaula have been able to continually upgrade and grow to meet the needs of our students while keeping the property taxes at a rate much lower than the vast majority of schools comparable in size.

The conclusion of the identification and prioritization of the planning committee narrowed down to solve several needs.

The committee recognized the need to build an Event Center on the campus of Eufaula High School. This would be used to host basketball games, band concerts, graduations, and other community events.

The current High School gym would remain and be used to enhance current programs and allow for the possibility for the addition of other programs in the future.

The need for a major expansion on the high school facility will also lead to the need to replace the current natural surface on the football field with an artificial surface to provide additional parking at the high school and allow the band to practice on the football field daily instead of the parking lot where they currently practice. This would also allow the current practice field to be used for additional parking.

The connection of the Event Center would also allow us to add an additional dining facility to the High School Cafeteria.

The committee also recommended a wing to be added on to the Middle School. This would allow us to move the 5th Grade to the Middle School which would ease the crowding of the Elementary School and the Elementary School Cafeteria.

To continue the growth and improvements for Eufaula Public Schools it will require the passing of a $23,970,000, 17-year Bond.

The projected cost of construction is $14,000,000 with the additional dollars going towards the 17 years of interest and finance fees.

The election has been called for April 1, 2025 and it will require a super majority of 60% for the School to continue to grow and upgrade our facilities and lead rural Oklahoma in facilities for our students and community.

Again, this is a No Tax Increase Initiative and simply a continuation of a commitment to the future generations of Eufaula Ironheads.