The Columbia School Board took another step Monday night toward constructing a new middle school by 2020. In April, voters will decide whether to approve a $30 million bond issue that will help fund some of the board's upcoming projects.
The board approved the bond's language at its meeting Monday night. The bond will help fund constructing, repairing, remodeling, furnishing and equipping new and current school facilities.
Chief Financial Officer Anna Munson said Monday night it will aid the complete construction for the new southwest middle school, add additions to elementary schools, enhance outdoor middle school athletic facilities, upgrade old facilities and repair roofs, parking lots, windows, air conditioning and technology.
Board member Jonathan Sessions said the bond has always been part of the district's 10-year bond plan."This board has stayed steady and true to our plan," Sessions said. "We're seeing the fruits of that plan."
Board members emphasized that it will not increase taxes, as the current debt service tax levy is estimated to remain at $0.9719 per $100 of assessed valuation and will cover the bond repayment. If approved by voters, the bonds would be issued in the spring of 2019.
The board also presented Monday night a proposal for a STEAM middle school at Jefferson Middle School in north-central Columbia. Board members suggested the students would come from within Jefferson's attendance boundaries and from Benton STEM, Lee Expressive Arts and Ridgeway elementary schools.
Those elementary schools’ specialized curriculum would make the transition easier for students into the STEAM —Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math — middle school.
Board President Darin Preis said the district’s STEAM initiative is a fantastic idea.“I don’t think that we can overstate that this is the future of public education,” Preis said. “It gives us an opportunity to engage students in a much more meaningful way that resonates with the students.”
Over the past two years, the STEAM Bus has been visiting the district’s elementary and middle schools to engage students in hands-on lessons and provide training for teachers in STEAM curriculum. The bus has acted as a mini blueprint for the district’s possible STEAM middle school. On the bus, students can build robots, program video games, design lighting systems and work with many other technologies.
The creation of a STEAM middle school would provide an incubator for innovative practices that can be shared with the other six middle schools, school board officials said. Jefferson Middle School faculty will meet with STEAM coordinators in 2018 to discuss outreach, curriculum development and faculty support, according to the board's proposal. The proposal presented Monday night included an estimated launch date of the 2020-2021 school year.
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