By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A major decision will be made by St. Joseph voters April 8th.
St. Joseph voters will decide a $157 million school bond issue on the 8th, an issue School Board President LaTonya Williams says will set the district in motion for a big step forward.
Williams says the Board of Education is committed to building a new high school south of 36 Highway if voters approve the 60-cent increase in the school levy.
“If the bond is approved on April the 8th and if everything goes according to schedule, a new school will open up their doors in the fall of ’28,” Williams tells host Barry Birr on the KFEQ Hotline.
Williams says the board will secure the land needed in south St. Joseph, stating she never knew acquiring land and contract negotiations took so long.
“I don’t think that any of us really ever imagined about the length of the process, because we’ve never built a new high school in 80 years,” Williams says. “And so, everyone involved, is new with this.”
Williams says if voters approve the proposal, it will benefit the city as a whole.
“If we were able to build a brand-new school in that area of town, it will bring all new life in that area of town. It will bring new businesses. It will bring more traffic,” Williams says. “It will give them another reason to be even more proud.”
The St. Joseph Board of Education long-range plan calls for moving from three high schools to two with Benton and Lafayette becoming middle schools, joining Truman and Bode. Spring Garden and Roubidoux will become elementary schools, with the number of elementary schools reduced from 13 to 10.
Williams understands St. Joseph residents are proud of their schools, but she says those schools are aging and students deserve better.
“Everyone loves our schools. Everyone loves our history. And then they also understand that today’s kids need more than yesterday’s kids had.”
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