Glasgow School Bond Fails By Large Margin

After weeks and months of educating the public in a myriad of ways for the need of a $8,580,000 bond to pay for facility improvements in the Glasgow School District, the voters made their opinions known via a mail-in ballot from Sept. 29 through Oct. 17. The bond was to pay for improvements including replacing the Glasgow High School track and football field with synthetic surfaces and amenities, replacing or repairing sections of the Glasgow High School and Glasgow Middle School roofs, replacing a boiler at the Glasgow High School and if monies were available, improving the traffic area in front of Irle Elementary school.

All ballots were due to the Valley County Election Administrator Marie Pippin by 8 p.m., on Oct. 17, where she tallied all of the votes. In total, 3,047 votes were issued and 1,922 were returned. Of the 1,922 ballots returned, 23 were rejected for no signature or signature mismatch on the ballot envelope.

Of the other 1,899 valid ballots, there were 620 YES votes and 1,279 NO votes.

The voter-turn out was just over 63 percent, with 32.6 percent of the accepted ballots voting for the bond and 67.4 percent voting against the bond.

Last winter, one of the boilers at the Glasgow School, which according to the District was 80 years old, failed, resulting in the immediate need to replace it prior to this winter. The project is currently underway as a result of an emergency 10-year INTERCAP loan the District took out earlier in the summer in the amount of $400,000. The project is expected to be completed by this winter to ensure adequate heat for students and staff at the high school.

In the spring of 2023, the School District contracted with McKinstry to complete a facility needs assessment on the District’s buildings. During the April 26 special board meeting, Tyler Bush, with McKinstry, presented his prioritized summary report, which the trustees reviewed and discussed the high priority items. The top priority items determined were the Glasgow High School boiler and roof repair items for both the high school and middle school.

Also included in the bond asking of voters included a phase of the Scottie Recharged Project, replacing the failing asphalt track with a post-tensioned concrete all weather track at Scottie Field, replace the natural grass football field with synthetic All Weather Field Turf at Scottie Field and replace the partially-failed incandescent lights with cost-effective LED light technology at Scottie Field. The cost for this project was 58 percent of the proposed bond for voters, as the estimated cost was $5 million.

Current issues with the track include a six-foot wide sinkhole on Lane 1 on the straightaway; the Triple/Long Jump (west runway) is experiencing sagging and showing signs of failure; nearly 50 percent of the track’s rubberized surface is loose or deteriorating to the point of no repair; the Pole Vault area (east runway) has experienced complete deterioration and is no longer viable; and the southeast and northeast corners of the track have large crack that have developed over time.

Following the election results, the Glasgow School District on behalf of the Glasgow School Board of Trustees issued a statement: “We are disappointed in the results. The 'what next' questions will be addressed by the entire board in the public eye during our regular meetings.

"The boiler is paid for and the loan will be serviced as we agreed to in the terms of the loan.

"The athletic facility questions will be addressed as they arise. When other schools decide it’s time to have the Top 10 meet in Glendive or Sidney it will be moved. If other schools think our facility is not adequate we will be traveling to Great Falls for Divisional Track yearly, not every other year. If another school in our District builds a better facility than Glasgow can maintain, District and Divisional track meets will be held there.

"We will continue to do what we can to make small repairs and patch things together to continue to host these events for as long as possible. Student safety will be continually evaluated and will remain a top priority.”

The Glasgow School Board meets the second Wednesday of each month at 6 p.m., in the District Business Office, 229 7th St. N., Glasgow. The next two board meetings will be held at the schools so the board can do a facility tour.

The next board meeting will be held on Nov. 8, at the Glasgow Middle School, with a facility tour starting at 5 p.m. and the meeting starting at 6 p.m. Agendas are posted on The Glasgow Courier Facebook http://www.facebook.com/glasgowcourier when available. Board packets are also posted on the District website, http://www.glasgow.k12.mt.us/page/school-board.