Geary USD 475 leaders are in the very preliminary stages of studying what to do in terms of future improvements at Junction City High School….renovate or build new are among the possibilities.

But Board of Education members learned Tuesday from bond counsel that if a school block grant funding plan becomes law it could mean less state aid for projects of that sort….51 percent of the funding would come from state aid instead of 66 percent under the existing school finance formula.

Board of Education member Brian Field noted the high school has some infrastructure issues. “And we’re going to have to address that. So hopefully,this is one of the steps that we can take as far as some research as to what we may have to do as far as issuing a bond. Obviously that’s not something we want to have to do.”

The superintendent of schools, Dr. Corbin Witt noted under the proposed block grant formula in order to get the same amount of money USD 475 would have to levy more mills, which is considered undesirable.

Architects working on a six-year capital outlay plan for the school district have been asked to address the areas where the current capital outlay funds do not exist to address to fix and make desired improvements.

“The architects have been working with the high school. Mostly that is the big area that has been focused on. ” Witt also added some other areas have been reviewed such as safe rooms for elementary schools. “But most of it’s been working with the high school, saying what would it look like, what would we like to have as a needs assessment if you were going to offer programs at the level you’d like to.”

Witt said the architects will return with a preliminary cost estimate, and staff will then see if the Board wants to move forward on it.

Witt also noted that the entire process would be lengthy, many community meetings to gather input, including as many people as possible in the decisions. “It’s a long process, and we would need to go through quite a bit of work before we’re ever ready to actually approve moving forward with a bond.”

The block grant funding proposal has cleared the legislature, and has been forwarded to the governor. One of the undetermined factors is weather a Shawnee County District Court handling a school finance lawsuit in Kansas could issue a stay on the block grant funding plan.