Bristow Proposes Bond For New Pre-K Center

We're days away from the October 8th Special Elections and there are several school bonds up for a vote.

Bristow Public Schools hopes to make some much-needed improvements to their campuses with a $6,015,000 bond.

Phase one of the bond will include upgrades to Edison Elementary School and a new Pre-K Center, while phase two will include technology updates and upgrades to activity facilities.

Edison Elementary School was built in the late 1970s and houses all First and Second Grade Students at Bristow Public Schools. The building is an open concept style, meaning all the classrooms don’t have doors and overlook the library in the center of the building.

"This person could be doing a spelling test and this teacher is doing a spelling cheer and the sound carries so it’s just not an ideal situation,” said Edison Principal Debbie Ponder.

Not only is it not having doors distracting, but it also poses major safety concerns.

"If an intruder were to come through that door, they'd be able to get to any of these classrooms we'd have to tackle them to stop,” said Ponder.

Some teachers have moved bookshelves and filing cabinets in front of their entryways to create a barrier, but Edison Principal, Debbie Ponder, says the hallways can still be loud.

"You can try to make them as quiet as you can, but they're 6, 7, 8-year-old kids they do make noise,” said Ponder.

The bond also includes money for a new building that would house all their Pre-K Students and would connect to the kindergarten center. The building would have 8 classrooms, and four of those classrooms would be FEMA certified safe rooms.

“They’re projected to hold 483 students and staff and could also be used by the community in the event of severe weather,” said Superintendent Curtis Shelton.

In their current Pre-K building, they have four classrooms with 20 students each, which can get crowded.  They also only have two bathrooms with four stalls for all Pre-K students.

"We have 80 children in this building and we have four bathrooms,” said Ponder.

Superintendent Curtis Shelton says adding classrooms gives the district room to hire more teachers, reduce class sizes, and also provides opportunities to expand.

“We're anticipating a big growth spirt with the Turner Turnpike moving west in the next few years to six lanes instead of four,” said Shelton. “Our student enrollment is up more than 20 students this year so we are building for the future,”

The bond will also help buy new instruments for band students, will help buy a new FFA truck, and will provide new iPads for students. The project also includes a track resurface and middle school gym floor repair.

“This bond will benefit every student in the district and in some way all students will be positively affected by voting yes for this bond issue,” said Shelton.

Creating more opportunities for students and the community.

“If the school continues to prosper and produce a good product as we have then our community will see the benefits of that,” said Shelton.

The improvements will also include covered walkways, roof repairs, parking lot construction and maintenance. The bond would take effect when the 2015 bond rolls off, so there would be no projected tax increase.

Wednesday was the deadline to request an absentee ballot and early voting starts tomorrow from 8 to 6