Tomorrow, voters in the Greene County Community School District will be asked to go to the polls to vote on a $20 million bond referendum.

Superintendent Tim Christensen says the district wants to increase efficiencies, improve safety and security and compete for student enrollment as the driving factors for the bond.  Christensen says one way to increase student enrollment is by updating their facilities, like a new competition gym.  Plans call for a new gym to be built at the current high school with seating on both sides that would hold 1,700 people and include four locker rooms.  By having a new competition gym, Christensen points out that the district would no longer need to use the Wisecup Memorial Gym in Rippey and reduce the need to use the Greene County Community Center for basketball games.

The bond would also eliminate three of the district’s five buildings.  Christensen says both the intermediate and middle schools could be repurposed into other uses.  The administrative building would also be given to the Greene County Early Learning Center for them to expand.

However, if student enrollment does increase dramatically, Christensen notes that they have a plan in place.

“Although the intermediate building and the middle school are 100 year-old facilities, they’re both in adequate shape to continue to use for a little bit.  If we do have that growth, we would be able to maintain one of those facilities until we could see whether that was a temporary spike or it’s a long-term thing and then we may have to look at adding more classrooms.”

In order for the measure to pass, 60 percent of the ballots need to be Yes votes.  Polls will be open from noon to 8pm tomorrow.