CEMENT – Voters in the Cement Public Schools district recently approved a $4.25 million bond issue for various projects.
The bond issue easily passed April 2, with 78.1% of v oters in favor of the proposal and 21.9% against it, according to unofficial election results from the Oklahoma State Election Board. School bond issues in Oklahoma need at least 60% of the vote – a supermajority – to pass.
The new bond issue will extend the bond tax that is currently on the books but will not require a tax increase, Cement Superintendent Kevin Brown said in an April 5 text to a Southwest Ledger reporter.
Proceeds from the bond issue will cover the cost of b uilding a new 3,000-square-foot kitchen and a cafeteria addition, according to the Cement Public Schools Info Facebook page. The cafeteria addition will double as a community storm shelter that can accommodate more than 300 people.
A portion of the bond issu e proceeds will pay for replacing windows across campus.
The existing school does not have a modern storm shelter on campus, according to the Norman- based architectural firm Principle Design LLC, which is the architect for the project. The firm said the school kitchen and cafeteria are outdated.
“We are proposing a new addition to house a more functional and appropriately sized cafeteria and kitchen facility for use by the entire K-12,” the architectural firm said in a March 27 post on its F acebook page. “The entire addition will be constructed as an ICC-500 compliant storm shelter and is large enough to protect every student and allows for growth.”
The firm said the storm shelter would be open to the public once students are secure or for events after school hours.
An ICC 500-rated storm shelter must be designed to with stand 250-mph winds as well as windborne debris.
Brown said construction will begin in August of this year and is expected to be completed within 12 months. He added that he appreciated voters’ support for the project, which will benefit students and the community as a whole.
“Just a big thank you to the voters of the community for stepping up and approving this project for the good of so many,” Brown said.