SAPULPA, Okla. — In a close 60.9% super-majority vote Tuesday night, Sapulpa voters passed a bond measure that paves the way for an all-new Sapulpa High School.
It'll also pay for new security features and several athletic and arts facilities.
With a $279 million price tag, Sapulpa residents with a home valued at at least $100 thousand will turn the more than 60-year-old Sapulpa High School into an all-new campus.
"When you look at it as an investment, you invest in your house or your vehicles or whatever it may be. Everything's got a price," Sapulpa HS Principal Seth Shibley said.
"We are willing to pay it forward to the next generations and build a new high school just as the building we're standing in 60 years ago (was paid then)," lead architect David Reed said.
"Paying it forward" means anindefinite six bucks a month increase in property taxes.
Principal Shibley admits this got some blowback from voters.
"When I had those conversations we kind of talked those things and what $6 means, and, 'what is having a great facility for your students worth?'" Shibley said.
We first previewed tuesday's vote on september 2. One parent told us the millage increase would affect his bills, but would be worth it in the long run.
Another goal is to have a sustainable school for the next five decades for a growing Sapulpa student body while ensuring leaks and stains stay in the past.
"Because there's so many kids out there, which is great," Sapulpa Athletic Director Michael Rose said. "We want our programs to grow. We want kids involved."
As Chieftain alumnus, Reed and Shibley take pride in the vision behind the project.
"Our kids deserve just as great facilities as the other surrounding communities," Reed said.
"We've got great kids, we have great community support, wonderful teachers, and our programs are really, really good," Shibley said. "And so now we're going to have a facility that matches that."
Reed and Sapulpa Public Schools expect the first stages of construction to begin in the next year to year and a half.
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