By Tippi Rasp Staff Writer
This is the ninth in a series looking at projects included in an Enid Public Schools Dec. 11 bond issue election. The series continues daily through Dec. 11. Anyone wishing to submit questions about the proposal can e-mail them to trasp@enidnews. com.
School administrators call Monroe Elementary School the epitome of the district’s 10-year facility improvement plan.
While a number of improvements have been made — including an eight-classroom addition — a number of vital needs remain.
An $11.5 million bond issue proposed by Enid Public Schools on Dec. 11 would provide $9.7 million for facility improvements, $1.2 million for technology purchases and $600,000 for new buses.
It would allow the district to complete a 10-year facility improvement plan to provide upgrades at all school sites, including a new Garfield Elementary School, which would be the first new EPS school since 1963.
At Monroe, the difference between the new addition and improvements and the areas of the school still in need is significant. Where the new flooring abruptly stops and meets the old flooring is like two different environments, officials said.
“It’s like being all dressed up and wearing your tennis shoes,” said Amber Graham Fitzgerald, director of school and community relations for Enid Public Schools.
A portion of the school still doesn’t have heating and air conditioning upgrades. While some of the air conditioning needs were taken care of with proceeds from a 2003 special election, the remaining needs are waiting approval from voters Dec. 11.
Current needs ...
The windows surrounding the school’s courtyard all need to be replaced. There also are a number of restrooms still in need of renovations.
Flooding at the school earlier this year also provided a new set of problems. Water damaged carpet would be removed under the current plan and replaced with new flooring.
When visitors and students walk in at Monroe, the improvements make the needs easier to see. Lowered ceilings and new lighting illuminate a once dark and dungeon-like hallway. But the improvements literally shed light on the cracked, stained and deteriorating flooring.
“If you just look up, it’s all wonderful,” Principal Kay Kiner said.
The new driveway, which runs north and south and allows traffic to exit onto Willow has made the traffic flow much easier after school.
Through the 2003 bond issue, the school also received an eight-classroom addition with restrooms that eliminated a number of portable classrooms on the campus.
“The new addition has absolutely given us so much space,” Kiner said.
And it’s given school staff a safe place to seek shelter in the event of severe weather. The new addition allows enough space for all the students to go for shelter.
Lori Painter, sixth-grade teacher at Monroe, said she loves the new addition.
“The best thing is we don’t have to go out in the rain to get to the portables,” she said.
The students, she said, also love the classrooms.
“The new rooms are fabulous,” she said. “They love them and they take better care of them.”
On the ballot ...
School officials are asking voters for the funds to address the needs at Monroe and a number of other schools around the district in the form of a bond issue Dec. 11. Two propositions are on the ballot — one for $10.9 million for facility improvements and technology upgrades, including interactive white boards, and one for $600,000 for transportation needs.
The proposal also includes a new Garfield Elementary School, which would be the first new elementary school for EPS since 1963.
In 2001, a professional facility assessment company identified $30 million in needs in the district’s buildings. A little more than $20 million was provided through the 2003 bond issue and sales tax measure.
The current measure would address the remaining needs, school officials have said.
Funds generated from bond issues can only be used for capital improvements, technology and transportation. They cannot be used for general operating needs, such as salaries.
