Oklahoma’s Own In Focus: Green Country School Bonds Fail, Pass In Latest Election

Voters in Grove voted down a school bond issue for the second year in a row.

The school bond was for $129 million, the biggest in Grove history, and would have paid for a new Junior High and other improvements for the district.

As Grove seniors get back to the high school from lunch on Wednesday, Vice Principal Matt Fracek greeted them with a wave and a good mood, but the news of a failed school bond is dragging down his day.

"Just sad for the kids honestly,” he said. “There would have been some cool stuff in there and not just for high school kids; there would have been things in there for the entire district."

One item on the list was a new roof for the high school.

"We'll go on a leak tour," he said.

It doesn't take long for Fracek to find signs of past leaks. And floor damage in the hallway has been there so long it's been made to look like a beaver by students.

"Our buildings are really bad,” said Kellon Collington, a Grove senior. “If you just walk around, we have leaky roofs by the back office."

Kellon says she was following the vote closely and was hopeful voters would choose to invest in students here.

"I cried last night whenever I found out, just because I feel like our school needs it so much, and I'm wanting to be a teacher and come back and teach here," she said.

"Maybe we bit off a little more than we can chew," said Superintendent Pat Dodson.

Dodson says this historic bond didn't sit well with retired voters who didn't want to see property taxes go up.

"When you're on a fixed income, they get concerned about their taxes going up, and they don't have really a truly vested interest because they don't have kids in our schools," he said.

Dodson says they need to do a better job of convincing the community that education in Grove is worth the investment.

The superintendent says the only way they truly fail is if they stop trying to pass a bond. They're already looking at ways to get another one on the ballot.

State law requires that the district wait at least four months before putting the issue on the ballot again.

The district was also hoping to use money from the bond to add storm shelters to the campus.

Chouteau-Mazie Schools Pass Storm Shelter Bond

Chouteau-Mazie schools got a bond approved on Tuesday after it failed last October by eight votes.

This time, it passed by just 4 votes.

Chouteau-Mazie's superintendent says part of the challenge is just getting people to show up to vote.

“One of the things that I was very adamant about was just voting in general,” said Superintendent Lori Helton. “And if you don't believe it, don't vote for it. But just voting in general.”

She says passing the bond is a huge relief because their current storm shelter doesn't have enough space, and this will build a new one.

She says just because the bond failed the first time didn't mean the safety issues went away.

Are Oklahoma Schools Required To Have Tornado Shelters?

Oklahoma doesn't have a law that requires schools to have a tornado shelter.

But more schools have done it since the 2013 Moore tornado killed seven students at Plaza Towers Elementary.

That school was rebuilt with a shelter the next year.

In 2015, Tulsa voters approved a bond that added storm shelters at about a dozen TPS schools.

And Oklahoma City's building codes now require newly built schools to have a shelter.

Related: Safe Rooms In Schools Now Part Of OKC Building Code