T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Marshalltown School Board members Zach Wahl, Elizabeth Wise and Sara Faltys prepare to vote on whether or not to approve the next step forward on a bond issue for the proposed Miller Middle School project, which will be on the ballot in November. All three voted in favor.

The Marshalltown Community School District Board of Education took another major step forward on the Miller Middle School renovation, expansion and rebuilding project during the regular meeting on Monday as the decision will now go to voters at the polls in November.

Board members moved forward with the process to potentially issue $66 million in bonds for the proposed Miller Middle School project, which also includes updating Franklin Elementary Field. MCSD Director of Business Operations Randy Denham brought forward two resolutions during Monday’s meeting, separating the two portions of the project.

“These two resolutions are in relation to SAVE revenue bonds we are planning to issue in accordance with the Miller Middle School project,” he said.

Denham said a petition for $57 million in general obligation bonds will only fund a portion of the Miller project. The rest — approximately $49 million — will be financed through SAVE (Secure an Advanced Vision for Education) bonds from the one cent statewide sales tax that do not require a public vote.

“The $66 million is higher than what is needed for the Miller project, but that is due to some of our current bond obligations, so we can meet statutory requirements,” he said.

Denham said the second resolution applies to the Franklin portion, since it is on a separate site — thus, the law requires two actions.

Board President Sean Heitmann wanted to assure people that the district is not issuing bonds before the referendum has been approved. Denham told him that is correct.

“We will not issue any bonds until after the election,” Denham said. “It will be December at the very earliest that we even start the process of issuing any bonds related to the project. We will likely start with issuing the SAVE bonds first as the GO [general obligation] bonds — if those are voted ‘yes’ — we will not be able to start that process until late spring.”

Denham told the board that during the July meeting, a proposal was put forward to reimagine Miller, which would require a successful bond referendum with a 60 percent supermajority of support. A petition was circulated in Marshalltown to bring the matter to a vote, and before the deadline, 743 signatures were collected.

Despite said petition, signatures require verification, and Denham extended his thanks to people who provided forms. That made verification easier, as some signatures did not have adequate information. Denham said a few of the people who signed did not live in the district, some did not have addresses included and some were duplicated.

“Still, with 743 signatures, we are well above 497 needed,” he said.

Denham told the board the next step was approving the resolution, which will direct him to take the necessary documents to the Marshall County Auditor for ballot placement in November.

Both resolutions received unanimous approval from the board, and no members of the community attended the public hearing on the bonds.

An approved bond referendum on Nov. 5 would have an estimated tax impact of $1.28 per $1,000 of taxable property value, according to a subsequent press release issued by the MCSD.

In other business, the board:

• Approved nine change orders for the Marshalltown High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) project. Some of the orders include replacing PVC pipes in the wood shop area with cast iron for a cost of $4,471 and replacing the ceiling in two biology rooms with acoustical ceiling tile for a cost of $12,593. FEH Architect Kevin Eipperle gave the board an update of the project and said it is in its “ninth inning.”

• Approved two change orders for the tornado safe room, such as changing a door to meet FEMA requirements for a cost of $9,996.

• Approved a pay differential for special education teachers for the coming school year. Director of Special Services Matt Cretsinger said it has become a challenge for public school districts in Iowa to fill special education teacher positions. The change would be a way for MCSD to attract and retain those teachers. The district is short 12 special education instructors, but Cretsinger said they are in the process of talking to a potential hire. Superintendent Theron Schutte said there was a shortage of special ed instructors even before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Board member Sara Faltys asked if there was a sign-on bonus, and Cretsinger said there is. MCSD also provides opportunities for regular teachers to move to special education.

Schutte said the district has had no success in getting teachers in different roles to take the special ed offer. The ultimate challenge is not enough people are graduating college with the necessary requirements, he said.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.