KELLY SEEKS A $1.2 MILLION BOND ISSUE ON APRIL BALLOT; CLASSROOMS, WORK IN GYM PART OF PLAN

STEADY GROWTH AT BENTON HIGH SCHOOL: Enrollment at Thomas W. Kelly High School near Benton has been steadily increasing, prompting a $1.2 million bond issue proposal in April. The funds would allow construction of five new classrooms, a library and expansion of the gymnasium.

BENTON Thomas Kelly School officials plan to ask voters to approve a $1.2 million bond issue in April for construction of five classrooms, addition of a new elementary library and expansion of the high school gymnasium.

Ernie Lawson, high school principal, explained that if the measure is approved the district plans no increase in the tax levy. Instead, bonds would be paid by extending the district's current debt-service payment through the year 2012. Currently the district's debt-service levy is 61cents.

New construction, renovations and equipment purchases make up the $1.2 million price tag.

Lawson said plans call for moving some junior high school classes from the current elementary building to the five-room addition. The new classrooms would also connect the high school and elementary buildings, placing junior high students between the two.

Among the classrooms is a junior high school science lab, which the school does not have.

The plan also calls for construction of a new elementary library adjacent to the high school library.

Lawson said the existing elementary library is too small. "Our current library doesn't meet standards," he said. "And we have only one librarian."

He said moving the elementary library closer to the high school facility would mean the librarian could provide better service to both libraries.

The high school gymnasium would be almost doubled, Lawson said. The gym seats about 600 people; the plan calls for seating about 1,100.

"The floor and bleachers need to be replaced," Lawson explained. "We are sitting in sand here, so we have to redo our floor here more often. The last time we sanded and refinished we were down to the nails. We can't do it again.

"Our bleachers are old and have been repaired so many times. We have pulled them out and sheered them up with angle irons through the basketball season."

Lawson said since the floor and bleachers must be replaced anyway, school officials felt it was a good idea to go ahead and expand the facility.

The proposed expansion would allow two physical education classes to meet in the gymnasium at the same time, divided by a petition.

Now, the elementary gymnasium also serves as the cafeteria. Lawson said as enrollment continues to grow, scheduling PE classes and lunch has become complicated.

"We also plan to renovate the home economics room," Lawson said. "We want to make it larger. We have a lab situation where they teach cooking and sewing in one room. The enrollment in that course has been growing, and they just need more space to teach adequately."

The proposal also includes a new heating system for the elementary building and air conditioning for the entire campus. A few classrooms in the high school are already air conditioned, he said.

Purchase of new cafeteria equipment for the kitchen is also planned.

This year Kelly schools have 826 students in grades kindergarten through 12. By the 1994-95 school year, projected enrollment will rise to at least 850.

"We are pretty full already," Lawson said.

The district reaches almost to the city limits of Scott City in the north and the city limits of Miner in the south.

In April 1991, voters turned down an $870,000 bond issue for school improvements, including additional classrooms. The measure needed a 58 percent majority to pass, but only about 51 percent of voters supported it: 278 yes votes and 268 no votes.

"The previous ballot issue failed by a real close margin," Lawson said. "This is a very similar proposal; the difference this time is the elementary library and renovation of the gym."

Following the failed issue in 1991, school officials surveyed voters in the district on what items they supported and what things they opposed.

"We used that information to come up with this plan. We made the changes we felt the people really wanted," Lawson said.

To inform voters about the proposal, Lawson said he and the elementary principal are scheduling small group meetings with parents and students during the school day.

"We think it's important for them to come during school time to see just how crowded we are," Lawson said. "A lot of our parents are people who graduated from Kelly High School. They remember the school from when they were here. If they are here during the time we change classes or while students are in the cafeteria, they can see how we've grown.

"We've always worked on the philosophy that we want to get parents involved," Lawson said. "We always encourage them to come to school any day. We want them to see their kids in the classrooms."

Daytime meetings are planned already for Monday and Jan. 29, and will last about an hour. "Anyone who is interested in coming during the day can call me," Lawson said.

The district also plans public meetings in March.