LEBANON — For the fourth time in five years, Lebanon voters will once again be asked to approve a bond to renovate school buildings.
But this time it may be different, as the projects cost less than in 2020, when a more expensive modernization proposal failed to win the 60% approval from voters required for a bond, though 56% did vote for it.
The project at Lebanon High School — which includes a security lobby, student center and band/music room renovations — would cost around $5.1 million to complete. The Hanover Street School renovations — which include four new classrooms, a media center and a cooking kitchen, among other improvements — would cost $9.2 million. That brings the total for a 20-year bond to $14.3 million. The two projects are together on one bond.
The proposal is about $6 million lower than the $20.4 million proposal in 2020, which included renovations for three of the Lebanon School District’s schools.
Lebanon School Board Chairman Dick Milius said the projects have been “scaled back and modified and are significantly less expensive than when the board put the issue before voters two years ago.
“I think it’s more along the lines of rethinking the approach and finding more efficient and smarter ways to get the job done. I think the architects really were quite creative at finding ways of getting what was requested at a more modest cost,” he said in a phone interview on Thursday.
Tim Ball, the SAU 88 business administrator, said via email that the tax impact for the first year, which involves an interest-only payment, would be 16 cents per $1,000 of valuation.
“The second year, which is the first year there is a principal payment as well as interest, is 47 cents,” Ball said.
That translates to just under $118 for a home assessed at $250,000.
Renovations for Mount Lebanon School, the third school in the 2020 proposal, don’t need to be in a bond because the school district has been able to tap into federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, which were part of COVID-19 aid from Washington to schools, and capital reserve funds to expand the cafeteria and build a cooking kitchen at the elementary school.
The Mount Lebanon project costs around $4 million, Ball said. That breaks down to roughly $2.4 million in federal funding and $1.6 million from the reserve fund. Construction will begin this spring and continue into the 2022-23 school year.
During a School Board meeting Wednesday night, student representative Miles Sturgis spoke enthusiastically in favor of the renovation projects, noting how it will help improve student life at the high school.
Along with the bond and a proposed $46.4 million school budget, voters in March will also be asked to approve a three-year contract for teachers, which includes a $676,420 increase in the first year and similar increases in the next two years, totaling almost $1.9 million in all. Milius was the only member of the School Board to oppose it.
“My concern is that when we look at these increases, these are increases that are in the budget in perpetuity and three years from now we’re going to be at an even larger percentage of our operating budget being devoted to salary and benefits,” said Milius during the meeting. He added that the step increases “are excessive when compared to what the average Lebanon taxpayer can expect in terms of her or his salary increases in whatever profession they pursue, and so for that reason I … just can’t support it.”
After approving the proposed contract, the School Board instructed Superintendent Joanne Roberts to reduce the budget by an additional $100,000.
Meanwhile, the School Board and City Council are still discussing the possibility of the city of Lebanon taking ownership of Seminary Hill School in West Lebanon, which currently houses SAU 88’s administrative offices, among other functions. Roberts recently walked through the building with an architect and city representatives to discuss the needs of the district, should the change take place.
An architect is in the process of drawing up renovation plans and should have them completed by March, Milius said. The proposal is that the city would own the building while the district would pay rent. It is too early in the process to have a specific cost estimate. The city and district also have to work out how the auditorium at Seminary Hill, which is the old West Lebanon High School, will be shared.
“What complicates this is the fact that the district cannot simply transfer the property to the city,” Milius said. “We need to get permission from the voters.”
More discussions will take place during a deliberative session Feb. 5, where the public can weigh in on the proposed budget and warrant articles, including the renovation project.
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
