Ballots for Royal school construction proposal in mail tomorrow

ROYAL CITY — Royal School District voters will be asked to accept or reject a $16.58 million construction bond proposal in a special election Feb. 12. Ballots will be mailed tomorrow, according to officials with the Grant County Auditor’s Office.

If the bond is approved, property owners would pay an estimated $1.25 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The owner of property worth $200,000 would pay an estimated $250 in taxes per year. The bond has an 18-year payback provision.

Because it’s a revenue measure but not a maintenance and operations levy, the bond would require 60 approval to pass.

If approved, the money would pay for renovation projects at Royal High School, Royal Middle School and the district’s bus garage. This bond covers a different project than the current remodeling at Red Rock Elementary, said district superintendent Roger Trail. Red Rock sustained extensive water damage due to a broken pipe, and the district’s insurance, state construction support and some district money was used to pay for repairs, modernization and upgrades.

For the proposed high school-middle school bond, “the main point from the (school) board was to use safety as our guide,” Trail said. The proposed design connects the existing buildings at RHS with the goal of creating one entrance. Currently the main building, cafeteria, library and gym are all separate buildings; a new cafeteria would be used to connect them.

The building would have a card entry system at all doors, and indoor and outdoor security cameras. Both the gym and the main building would get new entrances, with a connecting hallway or sidewalk.

The gym remodeling project would include a new floor, new bleachers and an updated heating-cooling system. The existing HVAC is outdated, Trail said. The locker rooms would be upgraded and expanded. The gym foyer, concession and ticket areas and bathrooms would be upgraded as part of the new gym entrance.

Four classrooms will be added at Royal Middle School. The front entrance and office would be remodeled to improve security. The goal, Trail said, is to convert the entrances at all schools to the design at Royal Intermediate School; visitors must be buzzed in to the intermediate school.

The middle school also would get additional interior and exterior security cameras and a security card system at all doors. A fire suppression system would be added; currently the middle school doesn’t have one, Trail said.

The bus garage would be remodeled to provide room to work on the district’s buses without requiring mechanics to work outside. Current buses don’t fit in the garage, and one of the two spaces can’t be used at all. The garage would be expanded to fit two buses and its offices and meeting room would be modernized.