Someone posted the following question on our school bond website today: "Emmetsburg is asking 29 million for a new primary school. Why is sergeant bluff asking for 53 million for a new primary school?" This is a great question. We are answering questions when we receive them.
First, we are asking for $54.6 million with the bond issue. However, only $42 million of the $54.6 is being used for a new primary building. The remaining funds are being used for infrastructure at the high school and building a new career and technical education building for high school students.
Second, this is a great comparison as the building they are prosing to replace was built in 1952 and ours' was built in 1959, so they are relatively the same age. The short answer is our primary building costs more as we are a larger district serving more students in the primary building. Following is the comparison:
Emmetsburg
Emmetsburg District: 790 students
Emmetsburg Primary School: 308 Students
Bond issue: $29.75 million for a K-4 building
Square footage: 65,000
Construction - all new
Age of building replacing: 1952
SBL
SBL District: 1700 students
SBL Primary School: 442 students
Bond Issue: $54.6 million total - $42 million of with is for the primary building (PK-2)
Square footage: 82,500
Construction - new with some remodeling due to adding on to the elementary building
Age of building replacing: 1959
This question and many more are located on the FAQ portion of the website containing all the facts regarding the November 5, 2024 bond issue. We encourage voters to be informed and vote. Here is the link to the website: https://sites.google.com/sblschools.com/ref24/home?scrlybrkr=1fe46058
Thank you for the question. We encourage voters to ask questions!
SBL - Strengthen - Build - Lead