JCPS superintendent recommends asking voters for second high school, major renovation

Jefferson City public school leaders are considering asking voters to decide on a second high school on the upcoming April ballot.

Monday, Superintendent Larry Linthacum made a recommendation to the board of education to ask for a bond issue for the new school and a major renovation of the current high school.

Linthacum also recommended putting an operating tax levy on the April 2017 ballot to pay for costs to run the new high school.

The district is facing even more space issues in the coming years, according to Linthacum.

If a new high school is not built in the near future, the district would have to pay around $300,000 to add trailers to the Simonsen Ninth Grade Center to accommodate for for the current large sixth grade glass, Linthacum said.

And in 2020, the current high school is projected to be over capacity.

ABC 17 News reported the district’s long-range planning committee recommended the addition of a second high school and a major renovation of the current high school back in November 2014.

This past September, the committee reaffirmed its recommendations.

Linthacum said JCHS is currently the largest high school in the state and the district must find a way soon to alleviate the space issues.

Board President John Ruth said Linthacum’s presentation Monday changed his mind about asking voters this coming April for help with the projects.

“The space needs are really district wide,” Ruth said. “So when you’re looking at a K-12 puzzle, it’s a fair question to say well where do you start?

That’s probably the biggest size issue that’s coming through the system, so let’s start there.”

Early rough estimates of building the second high school and renovating the current school were about $120-130 million.

Board members are set to meet in a special work session later this month to figure out how much of a tax increase that would mean for voters and if they wish to pursue putting it on the April ballot.

The board has until early January to put the bond issue and tax levy on the April 2017 ballot.