Art Credit: KC Education Enterprise | Illustration Credit: 123rf stock image | Logo Credit: Platte County School District
Voters in the Platte County R-3 School District this evening refused to approve an increased tax levy to pay for construction to make room for an increasing number of students.
In exchange for approving an extra 60-cent tax levy, district administrators promised to expand Pathfinder Elementary, improve the high school, enhance district technology and security as well as build a new elementary school to relieve overcrowding. Another part of the plan was to close Rising Star Elementary, which the district contends would be expensive to renovate and is too small to operate efficiently. According to statistics available from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, enrollment in the Platte County R-3 School District has grown by more than 775 students in less than five years.
Projected cost of building the new school was at least $15 million. Without the means to pay for construction out of existing revenues, district administrators said their only option was to raise the tax levy. The sale of school bonds would have been the usual means to raise funds for capital improvements, but the state of Missouri limits the amount of debt a district can take on. According to information available from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board’s Electronic Municipal Access site, Platte County R-3 cannot legally take on enough debt to pay for expanding and building new schools.
Unofficial results show 1,835 “No” votes and 1,486 “Yes” votes.
An earlier story in the KC Education Enterprise mistakenly reported that voters approved the tax levy. _______________________________
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The levy would of had a better chance of passing if a new High School was being built for the large number of Northland kids that go to Pathfinder and Barry School. Many families have bought homes in the area near Barry Road and North to Tiffany Greens in the belief that a new High School was to be built. The School district expanded Barry School a few years ago around the time Pathfinder was built to ease over crowding. The district needs to look into a new High School since that is what the parents are wanting.
Posted by Voter in the PC School District | April 4, 2012, 1:38 pmI appreciate hearing the insight of someone who lives and votes in the Platte County School District. The initiative would have won if decided only by Clay County residents. Of course, that was only 83 votes … 70 “Yes” and 13 “No.”
Posted by jwmartinez | April 4, 2012, 1:42 pmIts not only the Clay County voters who want the high school.
Posted by Voter in the PC School District | April 4, 2012, 1:53 pmTrue. It was a fairly close election in Platte County, as well, with 1,416 “Yes” votes and 1,822 “No” votes.
Posted by jwmartinez | April 4, 2012, 2:05 pm