With all the stirring about the $40 million General Obligation Bond for Sapulpa that just passed, another bond for Lone Star Schools seemed to pass under the radar, but make no mistake…it did pass, and overwhelmingly so.
The $4,585,000 School Bond was aimed at increasing student safety by providing a dual-purpose tornado shelter/cafeteria dining area, a new central library for elementary and junior high students that would also function as an additional tornado shelter, a new bus barn, and upgrades to the elementary building that would include new fire sprinkler and alarm systems.
School Superintendent Tracie Hale noted that Lone Star’s student population stands at 940 students, and inadequate shelter in the case of tornadoes has brought cause for concern.
“Students currently take shelter in areas of the building without windows,” Hale said. “ The passage of the school bond will allow us to construct two tornado shelters increasing student safety and providing shelter for approximately 1,000 students and teachers.” She added that the fact that the storm shelters are multi-use and will also serve as a dining area in the cafeteria and as a central library, increasing their value to the school.
The planned bus barn will be built and relocated to another area of campus to allow for the construction of the shelter.
The existing library space will allow for additional classrooms to be built at a later date and was not part of the bond issue. “We are excited to begin construction and for the ‘peace of mind,’ the shelter areas will provide during storm season,” Hale said.
The School Bond passed easily at 75.42% voting yes and 24.58% voting no. There were a total of 236 votes.
