ST. JOHNSBURY — Voters narrowly approved a $3 million bond request from the St. Johnsbury School District on Tuesday, opening a path for security, heating and building upgrades.
The measure passed 411–400, according to the town clerk’s office.
“I recognize that it’s not a huge margin of victory, and still I’m grateful that we can go forward with these projects that are important to the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty and staff,” Superintendent Brian Ricca said.
School officials centered the proposal around two projects at the town’s only public pre-K through 8 school: installing a biomass-powered boiler and bolstering the building’s entryway.
The wood chip and pellet boiler would replace a broken oil one and serve as the school’s primary heating source. Moving to the new system would also be more environmentally sound, school officials said.
Responding to growing national attention on school violence, officials wanted to add a “catch area” after the main entrance of the building. That’d be a space where a visitor would need to speak with a receptionist before being allowed any further.
Right now, if they wanted, visitors could access the entire building from the entrance if they wanted.
School officials enlisted Black River Design, a Montpelier architecture firm, to estimate costs for the projects.
The firm estimated the boiler projects would cost about $839,000, according to a September budget document, and the security features would come in at about $953,860. Maintenance and other projects would round out the $3 million total.
Ricca said the district will have to wait 30 days for a reconsideration period before taking any action. But the plan, he said, is to start prepping requests for proposals after Dec. 5. Then the district will put those requests out to bid in January, he said.
Officials sought the bond in November, rather than at Town Meeting Day in March, partly to find less expensive bids.
The thinking was that there’d be fewer projects out to bid in January, so St. Johnsbury could obtain a cheaper labor rate for taxpayers. Officials also believe interest rates this time of year will be lower, further saving money.
Those are some of the cautions Ricca has for the 49% of voters who opposed the bond request.
“We are hopeful that you can ultimately see the value in these projects and know that the board has chosen to undertake them in the most cost-effective way that they could,” he said, “recognizing that there is a desire in our community to be as fiscally response as possible.”
Both Ricca and School Board Chair Christopher Wenger were surprised by how many people turned out to vote on the bond request.
Wenger thought the turnout was partially driven by outreach efforts leading up to the vote, which included walkthroughs. Though, as the Caledonian Record reported, hardly any members of the public attended an info session on Monday.
“For the people who knew the details of what the bond was all about, it was clear that these are things that needed to be done, and that this was the most efficient way to pay for them,” Wenger said.
The district will receive funding from the bond come July 1, 2020, Ricca said.
