AHSTW Petitions on School Improvement Ballot Questions

Hello everyone,

Over recent months our school district in conjunction with SitelogIQ has completed a review of the condition of our facility assets in all areas, including all physical, educational, and mechanical needs.  The review led to opportunities for community engagement through virtual meetings, due to COVID-19, and community surveys over the past school year.  The collection of information and feedback greatly assisted in prioritizing potential projects and overall facility improvements.

To assist in our efforts to continually provide high quality facilities to our students  and communities and address our prioritized needs, the AHSTW Community School District and AHSTW Board of Education have recently approved the development of two petitions.  The petitions were designed to identify if our community feels that members should consider the completion of renovations and additions to our facility to alleviate the identified needs through ballot questions.

The following statements share the language open for consideration on the two petitions.

Petition #1:  Remodel, Repair, Improve the existing K-12 facilities, along with additions.

Shall the Board of Directors of the AHSTW Community School District in the Counties of Cass, Harrison, Pottawattamie, and Shelby, State of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $12,900,000 to provide funds to remodel, repair, and improve the existing K-12 facilities; and to build, furnish, and equip additions to and renovations of learning environments, including related site improvements?

Petition #2:  Creation of an Auditorium addition to AHSTW Community Schools.

Shall the Board of Directors of the AHSTW Community School District in the Counties of Cass, Harrison, Pottawattamie, and Shelby, State of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $6,750,000 to provide funds to build, furnish, and equip a new Auditorium at the existing K-12 facilities?

In the next months, petitions will be circulating throughout our communities to collect signatures.  The signatures do not indicate whether the signer is in support of the projects or not, but only indicates that the signer believes the questions should be considered on an upcoming election ballot, November 2021.

In the future, AHSTW Community School District will hold informational events and share fliers to assist you in your understanding of the areas within our building in need of repair and improvement.  The following shared topics are a section of areas in need:

1. Staff members [Title I and Special Education] are sharing classrooms. 
2. Elementary art has no classroom and has been visiting general education classrooms each day, as the room initially developed for elementary art is currently utilized to support a third-grade classroom.
3. Elementary music relocated from an original location to accommodate for the need of early childhood classrooms.
4. Air quality in our high school can  be improved as we have multiple systems operating past life expectancy.
5. Lighting fixtures can be improved to create more efficiencies and improved lighting in our classrooms.
6. Renovations to classrooms would create spaces with more flexibility and new fixtures.
7. Additions to our high school would create new classrooms in this area and allow for the relocation of classrooms thus creating space on the primary and lower intermediate sections of our building.

If at any time you have questions regarding our facility and facility review, I encourage you to reach out to myself, Darin Jones, or members of the AHSTW Community School District Board of Directors.  We would enjoy talking with you on this topic and developing your understanding.

Respectfully,

Mr. Darin Jones

Superintendent

Email: darin.jones@ahstwschools.org

Phone:  712-343-6364