Editorial: A decision for USD 373 voters

By Chad Frey

Starting Tuesday, voters within the Newton USD 373 school district can cast their ballots. If you have not yet made up your mind, you face a decision I do not envy. It is not an easy one.

I’m not writing to tell you how to vote. But I do want to lay out some of the realities surrounding this bond issue.

The elephant in the room is what appears to be a relatively small tax increase. It does not exist in a vacuum, nor should it.

It does not change the condition of the buildings our children attend, or will attend, school in.

It follows a record mill levy increase by the City of Newton in 2022 and a county mill levy increase in 2025. Add to that significant increases in property valuations — as much as 12.5 percent for some residential properties in a single year — and taxpayers are carrying a heavier burden than they were just a few years ago.

Those decisions were not made by the school district and are unrelated to this bond. Still, taxpayers feel their effects in very real ways. Many households are also grappling with higher city utility rates, electric rate increases approved by the Kansas Corporation Commission, and relentless spikes in health insurance premiums — costs that strain family budgets with little transparency and even less relief.

That context makes it difficult to issue blanket statements about why someone should vote for a bond and a tax increase. I understand why some voters are weary.

There is, however, another side of the coin: what the bond would actually fund.

After reviewing the bond information and attending several public meetings, what stands out to me is that this proposal is not about constructing a flashy new building with someone’s name on it. It is largely about repair and renovation.

The only new construction included is a storm shelter at the high school that would double as instructional space.

Otherwise, the proposal focuses on repairing and replacing what has worn out. New roofs are planned across the district, including at Cooper Early Childhood Education Center, where portions of the roof date back to the building’s original 1930s construction. The district’s last successful bond — roughly $8 million — similarly focused on stabilizing and repairing aging structures at Santa Fe 5/6 Center and Lindley Hall, both dating to that same era.

At the high school, this bond would fund renovation of a 50-year-old pool used for physical education classes and address “temporary” interior walls installed decades ago and largely untouched since. The plan also includes storm shelter and security upgrades districtwide, HVAC repairs and replacements, and new playground equipment at some elementary schools to replace aging structures.

Like the Santa Fe/Lindley Hall bond the district will try and squeeze as much out of every dollar as possible. That bond finished well under budget, and “left over funds” are still being allocated and spent on those two buildings — the only place those funds can be spent.

That’s how these things work. When they ask us for money for something specific, that’s the only thing they can spend it on.

Right now here is where I struggle with my already made decision on this bond.

No amount of frustration with my own household budget changes the reality of what has worn out in these buildings. No concern over test scores — including those of my own children — changes that either.

The students currently struggling academically may not directly benefit from this bond if it passes. Construction timelines mean much of this work will serve the students who follow. In many ways, this proposal is about the next generation as much as the current one.

But worn-out infrastructure does not fix itself.

When a mechanic tells you your tires are worn out, you replace them. You may not like the cost — especially when groceries, insurance premiums and utilities are all rising — but the condition of the tires does not change.

That is the calculation before voters. Their belief in their role of providing adequate facilities for the school aged juveniles in our community, and if they are willing to pay for that.

Can you support repairing and maintaining the district’s facilities? For some, the answer will be no. For some households, there simply is no room left in the budget. They have absorbed all they can.

I understand that.

All I ask over the next two weeks is that voters make informed decisions. Whatever you decide, it should be grounded in the full picture — both the strain taxpayers are under and the condition of the district’s facilities.

I’ll report the results either way.

— Chad Frey is managing editor of The Newton Kansan. He and his family are proud to call Newton home.