Oak Ridge School District seeks no-tax-increase bond issue for classrooms, vocational space, better security

Voters in the Oak Ridge School District will be asked to approve a no-tax-increase bond issue on the April 3 ballot to fund construction of two additional elementary school classrooms, enhance school safety and make other improvements.

The entrance to Oak Ridge Elementary School is seen Monday in Oak Ridge.BEN MATTHEWS

Oak Ridge superintendent Adrian Eftink said Monday the district in rural Cape Girardeau County wants to borrow $2.6 million by extending an existing bond issue. The debt service levy of $0.7652 per $100 assessed valuation would remain unchanged, he said.

�We are looking at four or five short-term projects,� Eftink said.

Student artwork hangs in a breezeway between school buildings Monday in Oak Ridge. If a bond issue is approved, the breezeway would be converted into a main office for the elementary school with a more secure, atrium-style entrance.BEN MATTHEWS

Besides added classrooms to relieve overcrowding at the elementary school, the project also would improve school safety and parking on the entire school district campus, add vocational space to the high school and, if funding is available, build a new early-childhood center.

The Oak Ridge campus houses students in kindergarten through high school. The district also operates a separate early childhood center.

Oak Ridge superintendent Adrian Eftink walks down a hallway during classes Monday in Oak Ridge.BEN MATTHEWS

Eftink said the rural district has grown. It now has 425 students in prekindergarten through 12th grade.

With the growth, the district is experiencing �some challenges,� Eftink said in a recent school newsletter.

Arts and craft supplies sit on a table near the nap area in a pre-kindergarten classroom Monday in Oak Ridge.BEN MATTHEWS

Besides a need for more classrooms for elementary students, Eftink said the high school needs added space for vocational programs such as robotics, computer science and agriculture.

Robert Grayhek, president of the Oak Ridge School Board, said plans call for constructing a building to house vocational programs for its high school students.

Oak Ridge superintendent Adrian Eftink poses for a photo in front of the elementary school Monday in Oak Ridge.BEN MATTHEWS

School officials described it as vocational �lab� space rather than classrooms.

�With recent events on college and school campuses across the nation, we have focused the school district plan on the safety and security of our students,� Eftink wrote in the newsletter.

A shipping container holding classroom equipment sits outside of the current science lab Monday in Oak Ridge. If a bond issue is approved, the school district plans to add a 50-by-100-foot lab area that would connect to the two current classrooms.BEN MATTHEWS

Plans call for adding vestibule/safety entrances to the school, beginning with the elementary area, Eftink said. Visitors would be able to enter via outer doors, but would not be able to enter a second set of doors until electronically unlocked by staff, according to Eftink.

Added parking would be constructed on the school campus. A new �bus only loop� would be added to help relieve traffic problems and safety concerns for students and parents during drop-off and pickup times, Eftink said.

Science supplies lie in front of the school's 3-D printer Monday in Oak Ridge.BEN MATTHEWS

Construction of a new early-childhood center would allow the district to relocate all early childhood services � including the preschool, Parents as Teachers program and early-childhood special-education � into a single building. The project would include off-street parking, he said.

�The current Oak Ridge Early Childhood Center is not adequate to house all three programs and keep the students in a safe environment,� Eftink said.

Light shines through doors at the end of a hallway Monday in Oak Ridge. The school district plans to extend the hallway and add additional classrooms to the hall in the future.BEN MATTHEWS

The district has hired Dille Traxel, an architectural and planning firm, to design the improvements.

Grayhek, the board president, said the district has a 10-year strategic plan. The bond issue would finance the initial improvements, including making a single, central entrance for the elementary school, he said.

Tables and chairs fill the floor in the fourth-grade classroom at the elementary school Monday in Oak Ridge.BEN MATTHEWS

�We want to make sure in this day and age that we keep our students safe,� Grayhek said.

School officials said the planning process began in 2015 and involved input from teachers, students, parents, school board members and administrators.

Exterior doors for two classrooms are seen from outside of the school Monday in Oak Ridge. The school district plans to build a new lab that would connect to both classrooms.BEN MATTHEWS

Grayhek said the district �listened to the voice of the customer� in developing these plans.

Eftink said school officials will hold an �open house� in the high school cafeteria at 7 p.m. March 19 to explain the bond issue and proposed improvements to the public.

Soil rests on a shelf in a room used for multiple classes Monday in Oak Ridge.BEN MATTHEWS

It takes just more than 57 percent approval under state law to pass the bond issue, Eftink said.

If voters approve the measure, construction could begin as early as this fall, Eftink said. The improvements could be in place by the start of the 2019-2020 school year, he said.

The entrance to the Oak Ridge preschool is seen Monday in Oak Ridge.BEN MATTHEWS

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

4198 Route E, Oak Ridge, Mo.