By MATT SMITH
Provo residents will have to decide if they want to approve a $25 million bond May 6, due to its recent Provo Board of Education approval.
The money from the bond will pay for many needed improvements in the district.
Provo District Budget Officer Lynn Smith said if Provo approves the bond in May, taxes will not increase in the Provo District, but the bond will extend the debt of the district.
“We will be paying up our last bond in April, freeing up money for this new bond to help the district make improvements,” Smith said.
The district is using all available classrooms and there is a great need to build new schools and add to the existing ones, Smith said.
At the meeting where the board made the decision to allow the bond to go to the booth, some members of the public voiced concerns that the bond process for approval was too rushed.
Smith said the bond was generally accepted by the public in past meetings.
“The plan for this bond was announced years in advance and we have been talking about it for a long time. There should be no reason why the public should feel the bond is being pushed too rapidly,” Smith said.
Capital improvements in the district are taken from a list that originally totaled $23 million, without two new schools.
The following new construction priorities were established by the board this month:
— There will be a new elementary school in the Lakeview area with 24 rooms and Timpanogos Elementary School will build a new gym. In addition, another elementary school will be built in the Bicentennial Park area in South Provo.
— Edgemont Elementary School will cover a court yard. Timpview High School will add eight new classrooms and a gym. Provo High School will receive a new media center, and Independence High School will receive a storage and garage combination.
— Provo High School, Oakridge School, Timpview High School, Westridge Elementary School, Rock Canyon Elementary School, Farrer Junior High School and Provost Elementary School will have all or parts of their roofs redone.
— Provo High School, Timpview High School and Sunset View Elementary School will have parts remodeled.
— Provo High School, Dixon Junior High School, Farrer Junior High School, Provost Elementary School, Wasatch Elementary School, Provo High School, Timpview High School and Franklin Elementary School will receive air conditioning in parts of the schools.
— Rock Canyon Elementary School, Edgemont Elementary School, Grandview Elementary School and Provost Elementary School will receive new asphalt in entrances and parking areas.
— Provo High School will build a new track and bleachers, and refinish tennis courts.
— Timpview High School will build new tennis courts and inside bleachers.
— Independence High School will receive new inside bleachers.
— Westridge Elementary School, Farrer Junior High School and Dixon Junior High School will also refinish their tennis courts.
— Life safety lifts will be added to Provo High School, Timpview High School, Farrer Junior High School, Rock Canyon Elementary School and Provost Elementary School.
— Restroom remodeling will be done at Timpview High School, Maeser Elementary School, Franklin Elementary School, Grandview Elementary School, Provo High School, Dixon Junior High School, Timpanogos Elementary School and Maeser Elementary School.
— Security doors will be added to Timpview High School, Sunset View Elementary School, Canyon Crest Elementary School, Provo High School, Westridge school, Edgemont Elementary School, Maeser Elementary School and Grandview Elementary School. Drop-in ceilings and lighting will be added to Dixon Junior High School and Farrer Junior High School.
