ST. LOUIS — Voters overwhelmingly approved a $160 million bond measure Tuesday for repairs and renovations across 60 buildings in ×îÐÂÐÓ°ÉÔ´´ Public Schools.
The passage of Proposition S, which passed with nearly 87% of the vote, would not raise property taxes for city residents, backers said.
The district’s schools have an average age of 87 years and require heating/air conditioning upgrades, roof repairs, lead abatement and other improvements. The funds from the bonds will cover less than half of the estimated $330 million in needed facility upgrades, according to the district’s estimates.
City voters last approved a bond issue for the district in 2010, for $155 million in repairs and improvements in the then-73 school buildings across SLPS. Those projects have been completed, according to Superintendent Kelvin Adams.
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The Prop S campaign was led by the city’s Gregory F.X. Daly, collector of revenue, and Darlene Green, comptroller.
In Webster Groves, a no-tax-increase bond issue for renovation projects in that district, where schools were built an average of 81 years ago, also appeared headed for easy approval.
The $45 million will be spent on improvements to accessibility, replacing aging HVAC systems, and roof repairs among other projects.
The biggest planned expenditure is $10.7 million to build a new Moss Field, the home football stadium for Webster Groves High School.
A bond issue for Hillsboro schools in Jefferson County was defeated Tuesday, district officials said. Plans for the $25 million no-tax-increase bond included a secured entrance for the high school, surveillance cameras in all schools and buses, sidewalk and crosswalk improvements on Leon Hall Parkway and HVAC and roof repairs.
