The Cottonwood-Oak Creek School District Governing Board is considering a bond election for the November ballot, the first bond since 2014.
The board began reviewing the possibility of a bond in January, and has since been collecting data about what a bond could do for the district and what COCSD could do without one. The board won’t vote on whether to put it to the ballot until May.
The last time the district went for a bond was to replace HVACs throughout the schools.
“These schools were built prior to ACs being in schools, even,” Superintendent Jessica Vocca, Ph.D., said during the April 1 meeting. “It also lends to why we need more water fountains, bottle fillers, things like that. So, that … was about $3.5 million the last time we went out for a bond to replace HVACs.”
Cooling is still a priority for COCSD schools. Evaporative coolers are still used in the cafeterias and gyms.
“Some of the things that we have discussed as a team is … a lot of this surrounds safety measures,” Vocca said. “For example, at [Cottonwood Community School] and [Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary School], they have fire lane and parking lot issues.”
She said anyone who’d been there knows there are a lot of potholes and CCS’ drop off and pickup areas aren’t very clear.
“It’s been probably about eight years at DDB, we are struggling with just the physical part of the parking lot,” she said.
Another big cost is upgrading technology.
These upgrades include Chromebooks, higher tech intercoms and loudspeakers that project on the televisions in the classrooms as well, saying things like “We’re in lockdown,” keyless doors among other upgrades.
Vocca said the cost for those technology upgrades would be about $2.5 million.
The buildings are all aging, Vocca said. So a bond would also help with the cost of maintaining and upgrading lighting fixtures, plumbing and the carpeting throughout the schools.
Stifel, the public finance firm the district is using to aid in its bond discussions, sent the board a pamphlet of information about different scenarios for a bond.
The first option, according to Stifel’s information, is a $15 million bond that would take place in 2027 after the election in November, with repayments going until 2046 with a 5% interest rate.
The other would be to add another $15 million in 2030 with the same timeframe and interest rate.
