Cove voters to decide on a $4 million school bond in May

The bond would cost property owners in the school district about $1.76 per $100,000 of assessed value, meaning the owner of a $100,000 home would pay $176 in property taxes for the bond, which would be paid off in 15 years, according to Cove School District Superintendent Earl Pettit.

The new grade school, which would serve students in kindergarten through sixth grade, would be built just east of the school district’s cafeteria building.

The new building is needed because of increasing enrollment, Pettit said, adding that since 2015 his school district’s enrollment has jumped by 100 to about 256 in terms of the number of resident students. The total does not include the number of pupils from outside the school district. Because it is a charter district, Cove must accept students from outside the school district when it has space for them.

Pettit said that if the bond is approved, the school district’s objective would be to have the new grade school built by summer 2024. Once the building is completed, a portion of Cove High School would be moved into the current elementary school building, which was constructed in 1934.

The current elementary school building would be renovated extensively before high school classes would be taught there. The renovation would be paid for with money from the school district’s capital improvement fund, Pettit said.

Pettit said the district’s enrollment is projected to grow at a rate that would force it to begin adding modulars to house many of its classrooms by 2030 unless steps are taken soon to build a new grade school.

“We are running out of time,” he said.

The May 16 election will mark the first time residents in the Cove School District have voted on a bond since 2006. That year voters approved a $475,000 bond that helped pay for the addition of two high classrooms and a number of renovations.