School District Asking Voters To Extend Revenue Purpose Statement

The Glenwood Community School District will put an extension of its Revenue Purpose Statement (RPS) in the hands of  voters on March 5.

The Revenue Purpose Statement, which allows the district to allocate funds from its Secure an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) fund – a statewide one-cent educational sales tax – for school infrastructure projects, was approved in Glenwood in 2011. A 20-year extension would push that expiration date out to 2051 while allowing the district to continue to use those funds for projects ranging from HVAC and roof repairs to classroom updating and its 1-to-1 technology program.

An extension to the Revenue Purpose Statement – which would require a simple majority to pass – is also a first important step, according to Superintendent Devin Embray, to addressing the school district’s pressing facilities needs with the forthcoming closure of the Glenwood Resource Center.

The second step is the district’s plan to return to voters this upcoming November a scaled back version of the general obligation bond that failed to pass last fall by a 59 percent to 41 percent margin. The new G.O. bond is still slated to pay for the long discussed extensive remodel to Northeast Elementary and upgrades at West Elementary and the middle school, but it would exclude the Kids Place addition. That $35 bond would be $5 million less than the 2023 version.

Embray said he spoke to several voters who indicated they would have supported last November’s G.O. bond had it not included the Kids Place addition.

“From that standpoint, I think it makes this (bond) more palatable,” Embray said. “Whether or not voters step though and do that, I don’t know.”

The general obligation bond would require a 60 percent voter approval to pass.

The GRC’s closing, uncertain future, aging infrastructure and the fluctuating construction economy threw a monkey wrench in the district’s plan to maintain its longtime presence on the hill.

The GRC campus currently houses the district’s central administration office and Kids Place daycare. The campus’ administrative building had also been eyed to house the district’s planned innovation center. In December, Embray said the school district would be pursuing “alternative plans that don’t include being on the GRC campus,” siting the rising costs for remodeling and upgrades to the aging facilities.

The district currently has a lease to remain on the GRC campus through 2025 but that remains in question as the facility closes its doors this summer. The state will hand over the property to the Glenwood Redevelopment Corporation on June 30, 2024. 

Should the district pass its RPS in March, Embray said the district plans to address its immediate facilities needs as it transitions off the GRC campus.

The district is in the planning stage to seek a revenue bond – which differs from the general obligation bond in that it does not require voter approval – to construct a prefab building on a parcel of land the district owns northeast of the high school to house Kids Place, the alternative high school, the innovation center and the district’s central office. The 15-year revenue bond would be secured with SAVE funds.

Embray said the district is in the process of working with the state to extend the district’s stay on the campus until an alternative location can be secured but that plan is tentative.

Embray estimates the 35,000 to 40,000 square foot building would be a steel building on a concrete slab and would cost between $6 to $7 million. Construction would take 12 to 18 months.

“This (building) would answer our questions of where our programming could be,” Embray said. “It’s our option that we’re looking at right now. We don’t have a home anywhere else.”

A revenue bond does not require voter approval, but the district would need voters to approve of the extension to the RPS to issue a 15-year revenue bond past its current expiration date.

Last year, 35  Iowa school districts across the state voted on and passed similar extensions, according to Embray.

The district has previously used revenue bonds to finance portions of the auxiliary gym at the high school and the activities complex. The gym bond is scheduled to come off the district’s books in 2028 and the activities complex in 2030. Annually, the district uses approximately $2.1 million of its SAVE funds.

“This is one-cent sales money,” Embray said of the potential revenue bond. “It would not impact the amount of dollars we already do use for it. The revenue purpose statement is important to us because it does facilities repairs, roof repairs and all the technology pieces that we have in our district.”

Embray said an approved, $35 million general obligation bond would likely not result in an increase in taxes, as the district’s remaining debt for construction of Glenwood Community High School will be retired in 2025.