TULSA COUNTY, Okla. — The third time was the charm in a school bond election bringing in some athletic and academic upgrades to Allen-Bowden Public School, a first in about a decade.
"We need lots of improvements," guardian-parent Doni Hinton told 2 News on Feb. 25. "This gym is 45+ years old and it's not a sanctioned regulation size for the state athletic association. So that's going to be one plus. And we just need lots of upkeep for our kids. We want to do this so they can be competitive."
Administrators of the one-campus school district got its wish on Feb. 11 when voters passed a school bond measure on the third try.
Third-year superintendent Matthew Sweet said the features centered around the new competition gym will sit twice as many people for sports and triple the amount for graduations.The building will have many more uses, though, he said.
"We'll have the fieldhouse component where there's bathrooms and concession for events out here on the field and people don't have to walk all the way down to the elementary building," Sweet said.
And then there's the STEM aspect. Multiple classrooms on the edge of the fieldhouse will house the robotics team, which will soon expand to utilizing drones.
"We have nowhere to do it (currently)," Allen-Bowden Robotics coach Kari Brummett said. "But if we get the new expansion there will be a new place to do it. And the floor being down too, that would help a ton because that way there'd be more height."
It also helped that there will be no tax increase with the bond issue that passed. In fact, the millage rate for residents inside the district is set to decrease in two years.
Construction on the fieldhouse is slated for this summer. The plan is to open it in time for the 2026-27 school year, according to the district.
"It just gives us an equal playing field with a lot of the other schools around," Sweet said.
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