The Hannibal School district wants to build two new schools *without* raising anyone's taxes.
Superintendent Jill Janes says on the April tenth ballot, the district will ask voters to approve a $13 million bond issue to replace the century-old Mark Twain Elementary school and build a new Early Childhood Development Center near Veterans Road.
The Hannibal School district says these projects are necessary and part of its long range ten year plan, its had in the works nearly a decade.
Pam Lusk has been teaching Kindergarten here at Mark Twain Elementary for 18 years. She says in that time, it's clear the building has problems. She says accessibility is one of the biggest.
Pam Lusk said, "We have a lot of stairs, we have three floors so children that are on crutches have difficulty going up and down the stairs."
The heating system is inefficient due to age and lack of insulation. There isn't any air conditioning, which makes learning tough in the warmer months.
Lusk said, "You have heads down constantly, and you have trouble really concentrating and staying on task."
And the numbers of students are outgrowing the space available. This storage closet is now used for speech and language classes and an auditorium stage is a music classroom. The gymnasium, located here in the basement of the building, doubles as the cafeteria.
Why are upgrades needed at Mark Twain?
Superintendent Jill Janes said, "Of course the new building would allow us the infrastructure to upgrade our technology to have the latest and greatest equipment that we need for our children."
Another concern is for safety. Right now children have to cross a street just to get to the playground.
For the district, all those reasons added up equals a need for a new school. It would be built here in the playground next door to the current Mark Twain Elementary. Another project in the district's long-range plan -- building a new early childhood development center on school property near Veterans School. Right now the district's pre-K and early childhood classes are located in each elementary school. A new center would create room in the other elementary schools and...
Superintendent Jill Janes said, "It will really provide a really neat learning environment for our pre-K students and we truly believe that if we can put our efforts into prevention, we don't have to worry as much about remediation later. And that's what pre-K is all about -- all those preventative efforts to get kids ready for school successfully in school."
The Early Childhood Development Center would also house the Parents as Teachers Program and the Special Services offices.
Superintendent Jill Janes says the important thing for voters to understand is that voting yes to the bond issue and new schools won't increase any taxes.
Janes said, "We're not asking for a tax increase. We're able to borrow this money because we paid down past debt and refinanced bonds and in our debt service levy, which can only be used to pay debt, we have the money for new construction and therefore we can pay off this debt without asking voters for a tax increase."
Another important note: 40 percent of the money to build Hannibal's new early childhood development center would be reimbursed through a Missouri Early Childhood Special Education Grant.
That facility would accommodate 150 students as well as classrooms for pregnant teenagers and services such as the Parents as Teachers program.
If approved, construction on the schools could begin this fall...with a completion by the Fall of 20-12.
Click on the links below to view original plans by Architechnics, Inc.:
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