East Mills Voters Give Bond Issue Passing Grade

Voters in the East Mills School District narrowly passed a $22 million bond issue last Tuesday to renovate the current high school-middle school into a consolidated pre-kindergarten through 12th grade building in Malvern.

The unofficial results released by the Mills County Auditor’s Office Tuesday night, Sept. 14,  showed the referendum passed with 63 percent of the vote (675 yes, 385 no) on Proposition L, which allows the district to issue a general obligation bond not to exceed $22 million. The second issue on the ballot, Proposition M, which allows the district to raise its tax levy, passed with a 62 percent vote (666 yes, 401 no).

The referendum required a 60 percent super majority to pass.

“Obviously, we’re very excited for the East Mills Community School District moving forward,” said East Mills Superintendent Tim Hood. “I want to thank everyone who helped with this process. I won’t attempt to name them all because I’ll forget someone. It was a good night for East Mills students and staff and the community moving forward to become truly East Mills.”

The slim margin didn’t come as a big surprise to Hood, as he anticipated a close election.

“I told people at some of our meetings ‘old rivalries die hard.’ I was not surprised. Just very thankful and fortunate it passed by the margin it did.”

The passage of the bond means the tax levy will increase for district residents by $2.70 per $1,000 of taxable property valuation, bringing the overall East Mills tax levy to $12.23.

Throughout the lead-up to the vote, supporters of the referendum pointed to the district’s relative low tax levy in comparison to other neighboring districts. Fremont-Mills’ tax levy currently sits at 12.28 following their major renovations in 2019 while Essex (12.83), Shenandoah (12.85) and Sidney (13.81) are all higher than East Mills.

Hood points to the district’s transparency in the process with its community engagement meetings and the plan to put the career and technical education center (CTE) at the elementary facility as being “a big part of people voting yes that maybe would not have.”

The former Nishna Valley and East Mills School Districts merged as East Mills a decade ago. The district currently utilizes two education buildings: the junior-senior high school in Malvern and the Pre-K/elementary school building located eight miles to the east on Highway 34 near Hastings.

The bond will consolidate the district into one modern, Pre-K through 12 building. The funds  will be used to renovate the existing junior-senior high building with an extensive addition that would include new classrooms, gymnasium, weight room, common space, and secure entrances that would double the size of the current building. Upgrades to the building’s ADA accessibility and campus athletic fields, parking lots and site access would also be included.

In August, the district announced a plan to pursue the CTE on the sprawling, 25-acre East Mills Elementary School campus. The facility would offer job and skill training to East Mills students while also attracting students from area high schools as well as adult learners.

Iowa Western Community College, Iowa Jobs for America’s Graduates (IJAG) and the Charles E. Lakin Foundation have all shown strong interest in partnering with East Mills on the project.

The night the referendum passed, Hood was already on the phone with IWCC about the CTE center.
Hood said the next step will be the “meat and potatoes” part of the design. He met with school staff on Wednesday to begin engaging them on classroom design. More community engagement meetings are also planned to gather more input.

Alley Poyner Macchietto of Omaha will be the district’s architect. Boyd Jones will provide construction management. Hood hopes to involve as many local contractors in the project as possible as it goes out for bids later this year.
Construction work will begin with the new addition to the junior-senior high school. When construction is finished on the addition, students will move into the new wing while construction commences on the remodel of the current building. The third phase of the project would include campus facility improvements.

Work is expected to begin early next year and is expected to last two to three years.

“Moving forward, all that can change with everything that’s gone on the last 18 months with COVID,” Hood said.