Voters get 2nd chance at levy

Published 12:00 am Thursday, January 13, 2000

South Point – School district residents should find out where a new, proposed school building might be constructed before the end of the month.

Thursday, January 13, 2000

South Point – School district residents should find out where a new, proposed school building might be constructed before the end of the month.

A community committee is in the final stages of evaluating possible sites for the proposed new high school and consolidated elementary school, which will be built if voters approve a 4.84-mill property tax levy in March, said Rick Waggoner, South Point School District superintendent.

The levy, which was voted down in November, would provide about $7.1 million in local matching funds to $23.4 million in state building assistance monies, Waggoner said.

The money would be used to not only build a new high school and consolidated elementary school, but also to renovate the current high school into a middle school, he said.

"We don’t have much time left before the election, but I think it’s going to pass," Waggoner said. "I’ve had several people come up to me and say ‘I voted against it, but I thought about it and I’ll vote for it next time.’"

Due to time constraints, district officials were unable to officially select a site for the construction before the previous election. This might have caused a number of people to vote no to new schools, Waggoner said.

And that will not happen again, he said.

"We did not have a site officially selected," Waggoner said. "We never really had board action saying that’s the site. This time, we hope to have that. We want to get more people informed and pin down an official site before the March election."

The date is not yet known, but site selection committee members plan to have a public meeting this month, Waggoner said.

"They will say here are some of the sites we’ve been looking at," he said. "Then they’ll say this is what we came up with and here’s the reasoning."

Besides making sure the building site is official, community and committee members have been canvassing the neighborhood, and spreading information about why new schools in South Point are a must, said Eric "Scoot" Smith, committee member.

"We’re really just trying to put a lot of information out about these schools," Smith said. "We have as many people going out as we can to talk to people. If you’re voting, and if you understand the issue, you’re more likely to vote for us."

Keeping the district’s current schools would end up costing the community as much if not more than what the state is asking for right now, Smith added.

"I think it’s very difficult to pass up the amount of money being offered," he said. "The money we’ll spend over the next 10 years for maintenance we could have new schools. Why put money in the old when you can have the new."

In the upcoming months, committee members will begin voter registration drives, Smith said.

Anyone who has questions concerning the levy is encouraged to call Henry Cooke, South Point High School principal, at 377-4323, or Waggoner at 377-4315.