Some Johnston Students Voice Support for School Bond Issue

Supporters of a $41 million bond measure to be decided Tuesday include Johnston High School students who say a new building is needed to overcome crowding.

School district residents who didn't cast a ballot at early satellite locations will go to the polls June 25 to vote, for the second time in less than a year, on a school bond referendum.

"This time around, from what I hear and what I am gathering, is that people are more informed,” Superintendent Clay Guthmiller said. “There has been more information provided to them through our communications effort.”

If approved, the referendum would build a new high school and remodel other buildings.

After a similar bond measure failed in September 2012, Guthmiller said he spent two months asking people what the issues were. Voters told him about three concerns.

“They believed the design of this new high school was an extravagant, over-the-top type of design,” Guthmiller said. “Secondly was the cost involved, and the third was people thought they didn’t have enough information.”

Based on those issues, the measure has been tweaked.

“This time around what has helped is that we believe we have made some significant design changes to that proposed facility, that I think are responsive to what people have talked about,” Guthmiller said. “Secondly, the bond referendum has been lowered by $10 million and we have done a better job of getting information out to people.”

With a growth rate of about 85 to 150 students a year, Guthmiller said more space is what the school district needs.

Incoming High School Students Support Measure

Johnston High School students agree with Guthmiller.

Swathi Somisetty, who will be a senior at Johnston High School in the fall, said classes below her are only getting larger.

“I really think this is something we need at school,” Somisetty said. “It’s important to be placed in our first choice of classes without it being crowded.”

In addition to the growing enrollment, Guthmiller said some of the schools need significant renovations, including the 1974 high school.

Kelsey Acheson will be a senior next year at Johnston High School and wants to become a teacher.

“I would love to come back to Johnston after college and teach at the new high school and know that our high school is the best in the area,” Acheson said. “It also would be great if my little brother could go to a school that had advanced educational resources available to him.”

Tax Increase to Come

If the measure receives the 60 percent approval needed, Guthmiller said the average priced home in Johnston will have a tax increase of a little less than $9 a month. The last time there was a tax increase for the district was nine years ago.

“It’s an important matter,” Guthmiller said. “It’s important for our students, it’s an important matter because of the programs, it’s important for our staff, I think it’s important for our community, too, in terms of quality of life that we provide in the community and the economic development that we, as a school district bring. What we hear is many people move to Johnston for the schools.”

The plan will:

• Create a new 10-12 grade high school
• Renovate the current high school for use as the new Johnston Middle School housing grades eight and nine
• Renovate Johnston Middle School to become the new Wallace Elementary School and a district wide preschool and
• Renovate Wallace Elementary School to house district administration and programming.

Voting will be from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. June 25 at assigned polling locations.  Click here to view a list of polling places by precinct.