The Geary USD 475 Board of Education has voted 4-2 to adopt a resolution scheduling the bond issue election for a proposed new Junction City High School on November 7th.

Board members LaDonna Junghans, Brian Field, Tom Brungardt and Ferrell Miller voted yes and Board members Carolyn Gaston and Anwar Khoury voted no.

The maximum price for the proposed new high school has been set at $105 million, but it doesn’t mean that amount has to be spent. Plans and costs have to be refined.

Khoury stated he was comfortable bonding an $80 million amount and noted $21 million ( federal aid money ) is not yet in the District’s bank.  Gaston told JCPost.com that she is in favor of building a new high school. “My opposition is due to the cost involved. I think that the Board should have had more latitude in helping to develop the cost of that building. ” Gaston added she would favor a maximum building cost estimate in the $80-$90 million range.

Board member Brian Field said a committee brought the school board a recommendation and they needed to stick to that recommendation. He noted if they do not move on the project they are still putting money into the high school in the form of repairs and maintenance. “We can continue to put money into this high school or we can go ahead and do what we need to do and address building one now. The funds we have available now we might not ever have available again.”

The plan is to finance a new high school with a combination of federal military heavily impacted aid and state aid. There would be no increase in the local property tax levy.  If voters approve the bond issue on November 7th the school district would then be able to finance 48-percent of the cost of the project from state aid. The passage of that bond issue is necessary to get the state funding.