Beyond the bricks and mortar: Voters to decide R-6 no-tax increase bond issue

Saturday, April 1, 2017

SIKESTON -- When it comes to schools and communities -- and their success -- community leaders and officials say the two go hand-in-hand.

Mike Marshall, director of Sikeston Regional Chamber and Economic Development Corp., said there is a link between neglecting public school systems and a decline in the community's growth.

"In my previous life (working for the Delta Regional Authority), I traveled throughout the Delta region and saw a lot of towns -- some doing very well and some not doing well," Marshall said. "The common denominator in the towns I saw in decline were towns that neglected to take care of their public school system."

Scott County First District Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn, who also works in real estate, said the school system is a very important selling point to prospective home buyers.

"People looking to move to Sikeston look at the school system," said Ziegenhorn, who is also an SHS graduate. "I have the honor of showing new people our town, and I'm always proud to show the football field and the math and science building. They always want to see the school district because it's very important."

While most are impressed with the football field, Field House, the math and science center and kindergarten center, not much else is said about other facilities in the district, Ziegenhorn said.

After so many years, everything needs to be improved, he said.

"We have made a lot of improvements in a lot of areas in Sikeston so we need to keep up with all the areas, and it's very hard to do all at once," Ziegenhorn said.

On Tuesday, Sikeston R-6 voters will decide whether to approve an $11-million, no-tax increase bond issue which would fund the construction of a new Matthews Elementary building on Col. George E. Day Parkway and Brunt Boulevard in the south end of Sikeston.

The project would include 21 classrooms, a 5,500 square-foot multipurpose/safe room, a modern HVAC system, art room, music room, cafeteria, kitchen, three special education classrooms, ample parking, limited entry points and electrical wiring capable of supporting modern educational technology.

The district's debt service tax levy would remain at 21 cents. A four-sevenths majority, or 57 percent, is needed for approval.

"We're at a vital point in our community now that if we don't do something to address the elementary buildings situation, then the community will face a whole other set of problems," said Bart Grant, co-chair of the "Better Schools Make Better Communities" committee.

Grant and Better Schools committee co-chair Michelle Worth said while educating citizens about the bond issue, some patrons have commented the district needs to fix student achievement before focusing on the buildings.

"However, there is a direct correlation of building and student achievement," Worth said.

Ceiling tiles, roofs, buses can be replaced and routine maintenance completed on the 62-year-old Matthews Elementary building and other buildings in the district, noted R-6 Director of Business Services Lori Boardman.

"One thing you can't correct is a building that was built when our elementary schools were built," Boardman said. "There was no way to have foresight for our technology, and you can put in wireless access points, but you still have dead spaces because you have a bunch of walls because nobody knew anything about wireless technology at the time."

Safety in today's world is another issue school districts face.

"When our buildings were built, people didn't lock their doors at night," Grant said. They put a classroom door leading outside. We don't live in that reality anymore. These are things you can't fix regardless of how you throw money at a building."

Improved facilities also impact teacher retention and recruitment, Grant said.

"Where would someone deciding on a teaching position in Sikeston or Jackson, where they have a brand new elementary school? They say: 'I want to work in a good work environment --not one with a building that's leaking or has other problems,'" he said.

In the past 12 years, 2,030 jobs have been created in Sikeston, yet the city's population hasn't grown, according to Missouri's Department of Economic Development.

"When you're on the outside looking in and trying to make a decision about a community, it's hard to get past the brick and mortar," said Lori Boardman, R-6 Director of Business Services.

Sikeston R-6 Superintendent Tom Williams agreed.

"We have a great staff and they do wonderful things for our kids. It's amazing what they do, and you can't appreciate it sometimes until you get in the classroom and see what they do with the kids," Williams said.

Like it or not, Sikeston is in competition with other, surrounding communities, Grant said. The way the interstate system works today, people don't think anything of living in Cape or Jackson and driving to Sikeston, he said.

"They have kids and we want their kids to go to our schools," Worth said. "It's hard to engage in your school and community when you don't live here."

The population of the city is an aging population, Grant said.

"And if you don't have young families moving into your city, then your city is dying," Grant said. "If your population starts to shrink, what will happen to your property value? It will go down."

But if people are moving into a community, the opposite will happen, he said.

"We want Sikeston to be a place that the Sikeston grads can come back to to start their careers after college. We want it to be a place that they can raise their families and a community they can get involved in and be proud of," Worth said.

During the district's town hall meeting in October, Dr. Kevin Blanton discussed the importance of investing in schools.

"City Council, Chamber of Commerce have been putting effort into and have been extremely successful at recruiting new businesses, and there's a lot of growth of jobs in this region, but despite that, the number of kids who attend Sikeston Public Schools -- that's not growing," Blanton told the crowd at the time.

He continued: "If you talk to these businesses that are hiring executives who are hiring people, they're not living in Sikeston, and they're not living in Sikeston because we're not investing."

Blanton said the community has to invest in its schools.

"That's not just investing in teachers and salaries in order to recruit teachers, but you have to invest in infrastructure," Blanton said.

Blanton noted he's actively involved in the recruitment of physicians to Sikeston.

"It is extremely challenging," the pediatrician said. "The last two people we were able to successfully recruit had kids who were grown and so the school was a nonissue. Before that, two people we brought to this community, they went to Lee Hunter and went elsewhere. It's embarrassing."

Other people who come to Sikeston schools for sporting events and other occasions, they see the facilities, and it is superficial, Blanton said.

"It really is," he said. "They don't see our excellent teachers. They don't necessarily delve into some of our scores and see where our student athletes go, but they can see our physical buildings. And it's imperative we make a substantial change -- and this isn't a lot of money that we're talking about. If you think about how much tax revenue you spend in federal taxes. This is money well spent. It stays local. It brings people in."

One of the best ways to increase the value of one's property is to get more people to move into a town, Blanton said.

"I was extremely disappointed the original bond issue didn't pass," Blanton said. "... All businesses and all communities have to invest."

Roger Sherman, retired R-6 educator and principal, echoed Blanton's comments.

"In 1960, I was teaching at the old high school. I would teach PE and world history and there was such a difference when we moved into this new facility," Sherman said at the town hall in October.