CLEVELAND, Okla. — Cleveland public schools are advocating for a $19.8M school bond that would help renovate school facilities.
Superintendent Sol Bayouth said the district anonymously surveyed families to find out what they thought needed the most upgrades.
The district settled on upgrading facilities, including science labs, special education classrooms, furniture, and the high school gymnasium.
Kevin Borutski has two children at Cleveland Public Schools.
He said he’s still deciding on whether or not he’ll vote in favor of the $19.8M school bond.
“My only real concern is in our current financial market," he said. "What's the risk as the taxpayer long term.”
However, Borutski says as a parent, he’d be willing to do anything he can if it means his children have access to better academics.
“We want to make sure that the dollars that are spent are going to really important things to boost our academics," he said.
Borutski said he is glad to see the school has been considering parents' recommendations.
"I like that they're doing more skill-based things, the STEM programs, the things that are really encouraging broader academics. That's what we want.”
2 News' Isabel Flores spoke to Sol Bayouth, the Superintendent of Cleveland Public Schools.
He helped to break down a bit more about how the 10-year bond would affect taxpayer dollars.
“Right now, it would increase taxes just under $4 a month for every $1,000 you pay in property taxes. So in Pawnee County, the average property tax is under $1,000.”
Bayouth said the district worked to make it so that families would be a part of the process as much as possible.
We've worked for over a year identifying our needs and our wants," he said. "We tried to gather a ton of community input on what those are. There's a lot of things that we're not addressing that we would like to address, and so there's some things that we chose to take off and leave off."
While Borutski’s still unsure about his vote, he’s sure about one thing:
“Every vote is going to count. And I think as long as people get out and vote, that's a big deal.”
People will have the opportunity to vote on the school bond April 1.
For more information on the bond, visit the school board's website here.
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