CANADIAN, Okla. — Those residing within the Canadian Public Schools district will head to the polls on Tuesday, May 13, to vote on a school bond.
Agriculture is a big program at Canadian Public Schools, like it is at a number of other small, rural school districts. But the superintendent here told us they need a new ag facility because they simply don’t have enough space right now.
2 News Oklahoma listened to area residents to see if they felt the same.
Pointing at the bus bar, Superintendent Laura Gragg said, “That holds everything for our groundskeeping and everything we need to maintain our buses. So, there’s not any room for students to work in there.”
Moving on to one of the parking lots out back, she explained, “Our old ag building used to stand right here, and it tore down. So, this will be the area that we would like to build the new ag facility.”
The hope is that voters will approve a $1 million bond that will help them build it.
When asked how badly the district needs this bond, Gragg replied, “This bond is definitely needed.”
“We have about 150 students in the high school,” she added. “90 to 95 of those are enrolled in ag classes of some sort. This is obviously going to affect majority of our high school students here.”
This new ag facility would have a proper classroom, a workshop, and a multipurpose space.
Right now, the high school ag students work out of a single classroom and one portion of a crowded bus barn.
"I plant flowers. I'm a flower person,” said Triston Cook, then showing us his garden. “And it really helps. It helps build a person inside and out.”
Cook has a son in kindergarten and supports the bond.
When asked if he thinks there’s any room for improvement with the district’s agricultural program, he replied, “I do, I do. I think it would improve the school, and I think it would improve the town and community itself.”
He also said, "It would be beneficial for them and for the kids itself, especially because I hear way too many fights and issues and stuff at school. And when you get kids into things like those, it builds a character.”
But could this bond actually pass?
Well, nearby Indianola Public Schools — as we previously reported — tried multiple times to pass a bond to fix their aging buildings. It only passed in April after plans were significantly scaled back.
When we asked Gragg is she thinks her district will have any similar issues passing it, she said, “I don't expect any issues. I mean, you never know, with our economy the way it is right now. I mean, it's always scary to do a bond, for sure.”
Canadian Public Schools, on the other hand, is coming off a bond that passed back in 2021.
“No property taxes would be increasing with this bond,” Gragg emphasized.
Again, the special election for the bond is happening Tuesday, May 13.
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