Bond passes by four votes (unofficial)
Sara Stadem | Editor
The votes are in and the results (unofficial) have been tallied for the Tri-Valley bond vote on the proposed school improvements that were presented by the Tri-Valley Task Force to the Tri-Valley School Board back at the June Board meeting.
According to Tri-Valley Superintendent Dr. Mike Lodmel the bond election results are unofficial with the bond passing by four votes with the highest turnout number they have had in their bond elections.
“Today is a historic day for our school district, and I am extremely proud to be a member of the Tri-Valley community. First, I want to thank our Task Force members who after spending countless hours researching, listening, discussing, and debating came to a conclusion on what they felt was the best option for our school district,” Dr. Lodmel said. He continued, “The proposal voted on today was not brought forth by the superintendent. It was not brought forth by the school board. It was brought forth by patrons who reside in all communities of our school district. We had landowners, farmers, business owners, architects, engineers, bankers, federal employees, retirees, stay at home parents, corporate world employees, healthcare workers, managers, parents, and grandparents that brought forth a proposal that gives our staff and students the same opportunities they would be able receive in most of the neighboring districts around us. I cannot say enough positive things about our Task Force members. I am also thankful for the people who helped with a Vote Yes campaign and our school board that allowed the Task Force proposal to go to a public vote. Last but certainly not least, I am thankful to our patrons who went out and voted today or cast a ballot by absentee voting.”
“With today’s bond election, along with capital outlay certificates that have been issued in the past, and capital outlay revenues earmarked for building we are going to be building and upgrading facilities in the next couple years at the approximate cost of 63 million dollars. That’s an awesome responsibility and not one that I take lightly. And I can promise that it’s not a responsibility that our school board takes lightly either,” Dr. Lodmel said.
He continued, “This should be a tremendous boost to our students and staff that are currently teaching and learning in areas that we have outgrown for some time. We have teachers sharing classrooms and some students receiving tutoring and instruction services in areas that should frankly be used as closets. We have had to non-stop shuffle classrooms in order to meet our capacity situations, and our staff and students have been fantastic and flexible in all these instances.”
“To go from our current situation of overcrowding to thinking that we will have a new K-4 elementary school (in Crooks) built with a capacity for five sections per grade level is very exciting. We will be able to remodel our existing site (near Colton) to allow for an elementary school for students who reside closest to that location as well as remodel the site to accommodate and update our intermediate school. We are going to have a new high school east of our existing site that will give our students opportunities both in the classroom and for co-curriculars they have never been able to have in the past. Additional gyms are much needed in Tri-Valley, and if you don’t believe me, you can ask about any youth group that has attempted to schedule a practice in the past.” Dr. Lodmel continued, “Along with that, we utilize gyms for recess when it’s inclement weather as well as for students to eat and gather. (Hopefully, no more indoor recess in the hallways.) I am EXTREMELY excited for our auditorium which will be included in the new high school. We have some outstanding fine arts staff and students and giving them an appropriate place to perform is very exciting to me. Lastly, we will be able to update our outside facilities with new football fields, ticket-taking booths, concession stand, and restrooms which have all been needed for some time in our school district.
Of all things that today’s vote brings and of all the things I’m excited for; the number ONE benefit is our future capacity. In a short amount of time, we will have the ability to put students in classroom spaces much more conducive to student learning. Along with this, we will be able to come up with long-range facility planning in our school district. Something that has been very tough to do in the past without being able to acquire the financing.”
Dr. Lodmel commented, “I think you will find in most school districts that bond votes can be controversial. I am proud and want to say thank you to all of our communities for coming together and putting our students first. The past is the past, and past bond votes will remain in the past. The exciting time is now for Tri-Valley to steer directly into the future.”
“Each Tri-Valley student yesterday (on the first day of school) received a Tri-Valley T-shirt on positive school culture. Each staff member has received a T-shirt as well. We will be discussing school culture while promoting and facilitating a positive school culture a lot during this school year and years beyond,” Dr. Lodmel said. He concluded, “Our theme for this year is “Every Student. Every Day. – The Mustang Way.” Today, our patrons put our students first and demonstrated firsthand “The Mustang Way.” And a sincere and very grateful “THANK YOU” from me.”
When asked what his reaction to the voter support for the bond issue, Dr. Lodmel indicated his comments for those that supported it or didn’t support it are the same; every vote counts. “This bond election shows just how close we were to being able to move forward with what will be an outstanding experience for our students or having to go back to the drawing board, all for a few votes,” he said.
As for what’s next? According to Dr. Lodmel, the next step will be for the school board to canvass the election results and that information will be put out as soon as they are able.
Dr. Lodmel concluded, “I can tell you from my prospective, it has made everything with past controversies and past bond votes very worthwhile. Our students and staff deserve this, and I am so, so proud of our patrons tonight.”