INDIANOLA, Okla. — Pittsburg County's most impactful non-candidate race in the April 2 elections involves Indianola Public Schools, asking the community for almost $9 million dollars.
"It would be eight classrooms total with two safe rooms. There would be a men's and women's restroom banquette is what the architects call it, and then two single-use bathrooms," said Indianola Public Schools Superintendent Anna Peery.
The sixth-year district head and former principal admits Indianola's first school bond in a decade isn't the flashiest but argues it's a massive opportunity to complement recent academic momentum.
"This bond speaks truly to the essence of public education and truly student needs every day, all the time," Peery said.
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Right now, both elementary and high schoolers go through outdoor walkways to get to the cafeteria without any cover, meaning they could have to brave the weather often, she said.
Students and faculty also have to go across the street to the competition gym just to get to a safe room shared with the public, which has proven dangerous before.
"We had a storm blow through my first year as principal here and it come up very quickly," the superintendent said. "And as we tried to get all the students across the street (we had) high school students pick up and carry some of the elementary students through the water and get them to that new facility. And it spoke volumes in that moment."
Part of the $8,705,000 bond would build two new safe rooms attached to the new classrooms - two of which allow for expanded STEM programs.
A property tax increase of about $76 a year for every thousand dollars would pay for this.
David Findley has two grandkids at IPS and said he sees no issue with the cost.
"Just more opportunity for growth, for various career choices," Findley said.
"It's a no-brainer to me. It's a net gain," he said. "Speaking as a retired educator, we have to have improvements. We have to progress."
One Indianola resident isn't so convinced. Katrina Bennett told 2 News she lives near the campuses and finds the bond wasteful.
"The school still has a outstanding bond that hasn't been paid for yet. There isn't anything wrong with the old classrooms. They should have been maintained better," Bennett said via online messenger.
"There aren't even enough children in that school to fill classrooms. Property taxes doubled with the last bond. This is a town of elderly and farmers. We can't afford much more."
Peery said the bond is the most ambitious project in the district's modern history, and if approved, construction would begin early next year and last a year and a half.
"The school's really the heart of the community here in Indianola, so I feel pretty confident that there's a lot of positivity with this bond."
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