KSHB 41 reporter Claire Bradshaw covers eastern Jackson County, including Blue Springs and Grain Valley. Share your story idea with Claire.
—
The Grain Valley School District is asking voters to approve a $40 million bond issue to address capacity concerns at its elementary schools and fund several facility improvements across the district.
All four of the district's elementary schools are at or near capacity, according to the district. The bond issue, which will appear on the April 7 ballot, would fund expansions at Matthews and Sni-A-Bar elementary schools, security updates at all schools and a new athletic facility at North Middle School.
The district says it wants to borrow $40 million in general obligation bonds to complete the projects without raising the adjusted debt services levy from the current $1.30 rate per every $100 assessed valuation.
At North Middle School, the district would add an athletic facility to take demand off the high school athletic fields. The plans include a turf football and soccer field, an eight-lane track, seating, lighting and concessions.
"As middle schools in the area maybe look to other options, we would as well. So I'll give an example," said Dr. Brad Welle, superintendent. "Girls flag football at the high school has taken off quite a bit. We could foresee that if that grows to middle school popularity, then we'd be ready for it there. If middle school soccer takes off, we'd be ready for it."
At Matthews Elementary, the oldest school, the district would expand on the west side to add a larger gym, renovate the current gym to serve as a larger cafeteria and expand the library. A new main entrance would be added, along with expanded parking.
"So it's a combination of an addition of large spaces so that we can renovate the existing so that we can create a school that is a true four-section school, four sections at each grade level, like our other elementaries in town," Welle said. "And we'll also have the capacity to be added on to at some point in the future to get us to a capacity of 600."
Matthews Elementary and Sni-A-Bar Elementary would also receive expanded classroom space for special education classes.
"They have such significant growth in some of the high needs special education programming in recent years that that's really shrunk our capacity by getting those programs what they need," Welle said. "It's really declined the number of students that we can hold in the whole school. And so we're going to correct for that with this bond issue at both of those elementary schools."
All schools in the district would also see updated security improvements if the bond issue is approved.
The district said a common question from residents is why the district does not simply build a new elementary school. The district says projected growth still does not justify that.
Welle encourages voters to reach out to the district and ask questions about the bond issue before the election. More information can also be found on the district's FAQ landing page.
Election Day is April 7. The last day to register to vote in Jackson County is Wednesday, March 11.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
—
