Voters in two Wyoming school districts this week sent a clear message that replacement schools offered by the state School Facilities Commission are, in their eyes, inadequate.

By approving $5 million and $3 million bond issues, respectively, voters in Uinta County School District 6 in Lyman and Fremont County School District 6 in Pavillion agreed Tuesday to pay more in local property taxes to augment school buildings that will be constructed with state money.

For the Lyman district, it means a stand-alone middle school with an auditorium and bigger and more classrooms. In Pavillion, it means a new elementary school will have a gymnasium and a preschool classroom.

"Our people felt that what the state would provide wasn't quite enough to meet the needs of our students, and they were willing to pay a little more to get what our kids needed," said Lyman Superintendent Randy Hillstead. Voters in his district approved the bond issue on a vote of 335-221.

"We wanted it to be very affirmed by the community that this is something they want and support, and that's what this vote gave us," said Superintendent Diana Clapp in Pavillion, where voters backed the bond issue 292-131.

This isn't the first time that voters in local school districts have opted to tax themselves to build more than the School Facilities Commission was willing to pay for. The Wyoming Supreme Court in 2001 moved the responsibility for school construction and maintenance from the local school district level to the state, but the court gave districts the option to use local money to pay for "enhancements" such as swimming pools or extra lab space.

The School Facilities Commission won't, however, provide state funding to maintain the additional space. But neither Hillstead nor Clapp seemed concerned about their districts' ability to cover maintenance costs once the new facilities are built.

"We're going to have less square footage than we presently have, the buildings are going to be better than the ones we have, and they'll be easier to maintain than the ones we presently have," Hillstead said. "The state has its guidelines, but most school districts have more square footage than the state will pay for, and they just do the best they can to take care of their buildings.

"In our case, we're tearing down two buildings and replacing them with one," he added. "I don't think it'll have a big impact on our operational budget."

Not enough?

The Lyman school district and the School Facilities Commission had been at loggerheads over the district's facility needs since the commission determined that the current Lyman Middle School and Lyman Elementary School buildings were structurally inadequate and should be torn down.

The commission wanted the district to close the middle school and send seventh- and eighth-graders to the high school, after building a small addition to the high school. The commission also wanted the district to consolidate its elementary students at Urie Elementary School, which also would likely need a small addition. That would have meant that four school buildings would be consolidated into two - a K-6 school and a 7-12 school.

The Lyman school board and people in the community objected to that plan largely because it would have put middle-schoolers in the same building with high school students. A consultant retained by the School Facilities Commission said that doing so would actually enhance their education, while one hired by the school district said the grades should continue to be separated.

"There was a strong community value that the middle school be separate from the high school," Hillstead said.

Eventually, the commission agreed to a stand-alone middle school for grades 5-8 - but without an auditorium and with smaller and fewer classrooms than the school officials deemed necessary. That prompted the push for the bond issue, which is expected to cost the owner of a $100,000 home in the district about $57 annually for about 10 years.

"This is a fairly small school district, with 640 kids, and they already have a fairly extensive auditorium at the high school. That's one of the reasons we didn't look at putting another one in," said James "Bubba" Shivler, director of the School Facilities Commission. "What we're providing is for a building of 42,000 square feet, and anything above that they're responsible for as an enhancement. The bond passed - that's good news. That was their choice."

Hillstead said people in Lyman thought that the commission's approved school design would be far less than the district has now and would not meet the needs of students or the community.

"I think our community has always been very supportive of meeting the educational needs of our students, and they wanted to continue to provide the best they could for kids," he said.

The district hopes the break ground for the new school this summer and have it completed for the 2007-08 school year, Hillstead said.

He acknowledged some concern that rising construction costs could result in scaling back some of the building plans. "We'll have to prioritize what's important," he said.

Clapp also expressed some concern about rising construction costs for a new Pavillion elementary school. She would like to see the building go to bid this summer, but the timetable depends upon the School Facilities Commission's approval of funding for its part of the project.

The commission-approved design called for a 33,000-square-foot school with a multipurpose room but no gym, Clapp said. The voter-approved bond issue should allow for an additional 14,000 to 15,000 square feet, including a gym and preschool room. The current elementary school and gym, part of which was built in 1936, encompasses 47,888 square feet.

The owner of a $100,000 home in the district will pay an estimated $45.60 annually for seven years to help pay off the bonds, Clapp said.

Both Clapp and Hillstead noted that more than 80 percent of the local property tax revenue that will pay off the bonds will come from the minerals industry.

State Editor Chad Baldwin can be reached at (307) 266-0583 or via e-mail at chad.baldwin@casperstartribune.net.