Bond information provided

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Dear Patrons of 

Wayne Community Schools,

 

We are having a fantastic 2022-23 school year! As always the school year is flying by as we are well into the third quarter. 

The purpose of this article is to update patrons on enrollment and school facilities. 

At the January meeting of the Wayne Community Schools Board of Education the board passed a resolution calling for a bond election in an amount not to exceed $27,945,000.00  to address necessary facility and program needs. The special election will be a mail-in ballot due on March 14, 2023.Taxpayers of the Wayne Community School District will have the ballots mailed to them by the election commissioner on Feb. 21, 2023. 

The reasons the board moved forward with a bond election are our enrollment growth and the need to provide appropriate classrooms and educational facilities for future enrollment projections. As Wayne grows in population, our school district enrollment will continue to increase. At this point, our facilities are all at capacity for enrollment, and we continue to enroll students even as the school year progresses.  

Our school district has seen steady growth in enrollment numbers over the past decade. The 2012-13 school year was the first year of our two-building structure in which we consolidated our programs for a kindergarten through sixth grade facility and a seventh through 12th grade facility. At that time, our total school district enrollment was 865 students for K-12th grade. Combining grade levels into a K-6th and 7th-12th system provided more efficient operational capabilities and allowed increased course offerings to our junior and senior high students. 

The previous elementary school that housed K-4th grade students and was located near the Kern Track was in dire need of expensive upgrades to code and life safety requirements, and it was no longer ADA accessible. It also had limited room for expansion of the facility; therefore, the district decided to eliminate the building and expend resources for the current elementary school and high school to support the programming and enrollment at that time. The new two-building system served the K-12th grade program well for the enrollment and staffing that were in place.

Since 2012-23 our enrollment has grown approximately 15%. As of the second semester of this school year, we are at an enrollment of 1,000. This enrollment number includes 40 students who are enrolled in our three and four year old preschool program. This program, which began in 2015, is housed in the Sunnyview Park location. The Wayne Early Learning Center has prepared hundreds of young children for kindergarten and has provided educational support for the students and their families to help the kids develop with those very important early learning years. Enrollment in our program has contributed to the increased enrollment number, and has given students a good start for the transition to kindergarten. 

The district has also added an agriculture/FFA program, which currently serves approximately 25% of our student body at the Wayne Jr/Sr High School. The agricultural program, now in its sixth year, has developed into an excellent program for our students, but it is in a small classroom and in need of a lab space to enhance learning opportunities. 

The continued growth in enrollment, addition of the early learning and the agricultural programs, need to renovate our current science labs and lecture hall, and need to relieve enrollment pressure for students in grades K-6, are the main reasons the school district has decided to put a bond vote before the public. 

The plans include a new preschool - second grade facility on the property to the west of the Community Activity Center. The current elementary school will become a third through sixth grade facility. Moving grades K-2 out of the current elementary school will allow for expansion of classrooms and programming spaces for grades 3-6.  

At the Wayne Junior/Senior High School, seven new classrooms would be added to the east side of the building including a new science lab. The current science labs will also be renovated. The Lecture Hall will be renovated to improve our performing arts area, and renovation of the current wrestling area will provide a lab for our Ag/FFA program. There will also be an addition to the existing strength and fitness room to provide a wrestling practice area. 

All told, this project will allow our district the capacity to educate an additional 300-350 students in the future. The total project cost is $27,945,000.00 and will add 0.129 cents to the tax levy. This translates into approximately $129.00 per $100,000 of residential valuation. 

In an effort to inform and communicate with our patrons more details about the project, three community informational meetings will be held:  Wednesday, Feb. 8, at 5:30 p.m. and at 7 p.m. in the Wayne Junior/Senior High School Lecture Hall and Monday, Feb.20 at 6:00pm at the Carroll Auditorium. The reason for having two meetings on the same night, Feb. 8, is to accommodate people who have church activities. 

These meetings will provide an opportunity for patrons to hear detailed information from our architects, construction management team, and financial representative. Our goals are to be transparent and informative, and to provide the tax payers of the Wayne Community School District the information needed to make an informed voting decision. 

If you have any questions regarding the project or tax information, feel free to contact me at 402-375-3150, or malenih1@waynebluedevils.org. 

Dr. Mark Lenihan,

Superintendent, Wayne Community Schools