History of Build our Future
The BUILD OUR FUTURE Committee has been meeting for the past 12 months and is comprised of 35-40 community stakeholders, including parents, business owners, school employees, and students. Previous plans for a new gymnasium and classroom additions did not address the full needs of the district. A full comprehensive evaluation of school district facilities has taken place over the last 12 months including, tours of facilities, inspections and evaluations, and visits to other schools. As a result of these assessments, proposed plans have been drawn to address the current and future needs of each building. Changes would include improved safety and security, new heating and windows, building and traffic flow, use of space, remodeling classrooms to better meet academic needs in addition to new preschool classrooms, health and physical education spaces (gymnasiums), fine arts upgrades and additions (music, band, and art classrooms), food service, and administrative offices.
On September 13, 2016, the Osage Community School District voting patrons voted down a bond referendum that would have provided $14.9 million to renovate and add on to Lincoln Elementary and the Middle/High School buildings. As such the school district has conducted a survey of the voting patrons in an effort to gather input from community members.
After reviewing the community survey results, the Build our Future committee determined that decreasing the cost to district taxpayers without changing the design and impact of the project was possible. The referendum vote on April 4, 2017 will include a taxpayer commitment of $9.9 million towards the project with the remainder of the $20 million being funded with cash and borrowing against the PPEL and SAVE funds.