Tri County Facilities Proposal – December 2025 Bond Vote. In December 2025, Tri County voters will decide on an updated facilities proposal. The Board carefully considered survey results, staff feedback, and community input to shape this new plan.
For my newsletter article this month, I am taking advantage of this juncture in the school year to write about a topic that registered voters in our district will have the opportunity to vote on this coming December 2025. That is the issue of a bond-financed facilities project. You are likely aware that this past May, the Tri County Board of Education asked voters to decide on a proposal for upgrades to our facilities. That effort fell short of approval by 36 votes. With consideration for the vote margin, the Board endeavored to determine how voters felt about the various components of the proposal.
Gathering Input from Staff and Community. Engaging teachers and staff early helped refine the proposal and build stronger support.
To gather feedback from voters about the May facilities proposal, a survey was created for stakeholders to respond to a series of questions and give written feedback. The survey link was mailed to patrons on postcards, and it was shared out on the school’s social media sites. The survey remained open for several weeks. Of those who responded, approximately a third was from each of the district’s three counties. 62% of respondents said that the total cost of the project was not a deciding factor for them. This indicated to the Board that specific aspects of the project could be improved upon in a future proposal. With that thought in mind, the Board looked at the other feedback it received to move forward with a new proposal more reflective of the desires of the voters. Additionally, the Board recognized that having our teachers and support staff heavily engaged in the conversations would be critical for the new facilities to be most effectively used after they are built. As the school year began, the Board conducted two work sessions with the entire school staff. At these meetings, the Board solicited feedback, answered questions, and considered different ideas presented by the staff. The staff seemed to appreciate having the opportunity to speak with the Board members, architects, and construction company representatives, and learn how the construction would impact the school and what accommodations they and their students would need to make during construction. They learned that much of the construction within classrooms would be scheduled for the summer months and therefore not require them to relocate. In turn, staff provided input on how construction could affect classroom use and scheduling. This feedback was considered as part of the revised proposal
Strong Focus on Career & Technical Education (CTE). Survey feedback showed strong support for expanding hands-on learning opportunities.
After considering the feedback received in the survey, the Board believed that there was a great opportunity to bring the project proposal back to voters with changes that make it much more broadly supported. Survey feedback indicated very strong support for the Career and Technical Education (CTE) component of the project. In response to this, the Board added more enhancements to that aspect of the project. Doing so will involve remodeling all areas of the current Industrial Technology and Agriculture classrooms and shop. That remodeling will include a new welding bay, tool and forge rooms, a metals shop, a clean lab, a finish lab, lockers, restrooms, and classrooms for Industrial Technology and Agriculture. Moreover, the construction of additional CTE learning space will over double the total CTE square footage. The addition will include a new 3,048 square-foot Precision Agriculture shop, a new 2,887 square-foot Automotive Shop, a new 3,346 square-foot Wood Shop, a new Art classroom with kiln and storage rooms, and a new maker space room. All of these areas, both the existing and new CTE areas, will include updated HVAC with heating and air conditioning, and new air pollution control systems. Moreover, several comments in the survey expressed a desire for the school to look to expand opportunities for students to have real-world learning. In response to that, the Board worked with the architects and construction company to include funds for the revitalization of the former FCS classroom (also formerly referred to as the Home Economics classroom). As part of the proposed project, the FCS classroom will be brought back into operation. The revitalization of the FCS classroom will be done with the intent of adding an FCS teaching position, and that teacher could provide a full FCS program.
Safety Enhancements Remain a Top Priority. Visitor safety will be strengthened with redesigned main entrances.
Safety was another area of high priority in the survey, and the Board has also retained that portion of the project from last spring. Specifically, the three main visitor entrances into the building will all be reconfigured so that all visitors coming into the building must come face-to-face with office staff before being allowed into the building. The face-to-face human element is a critically important factor in preventing people who may intend harm from being able to enter the building. Adding the safety features will be part of the first phase of the project.
Preschool Expansion. More classrooms will allow more families to enroll in early education.
Other aspects from the May facilities project proposal were also retained. One such feature is the expansion of the preschool program. As part of the new proposal, two new preschool classrooms will be constructed and attached to the north side of the elementary. The proposed preschool expansion would add two classrooms, allowing for an increase from one to two preschool teachers, thereby increasing the sections of three- and four-year-old preschool from one to two.
New Primary Competition Gym. Community feedback favored keeping the current gym while adding a new, larger competition space.
Also in the proposal to be voted on in December, there will be the addition of a new primary competition gym. Unlike in the proposal voted on in May, this proposal makes no changes to the current competition gym. With the previous proposal, our current competition gym would have been converted into an auditorium. However, several survey comments indicated a desire to retain the current gym with the addition of a new gym. Accordingly, the proposal includes construction of a new gym while retaining the current competition gym. The plan would provide additional space for classes such as PE and indoor recess and activities such as extracurricular and youth practices. In comparison to the current gym, the new gym will also have more seating, a larger competition surface that allows for one set of bleachers to be out while side-by-side courts are in use, and improved ADA compatibility. The Board spent a lot of time examining the best location for this gym. They reviewed plans to see whether it would fit on the south side of the school. Drawings by the architects showed that there wasn't adequate space south of the current school, and they determined that the best option was to attach the gym onto the west side of the school.
As a new feature with this proposal, to improve access to the new gym and the school in general, the south entrance into the high school will be reconfigured to provide a more prominent and wider main entrance for students and school activities. With this addition, a new wider sidewalk, leading directly from the south parking lot to the new entrance, will be added. The new entrance will be located directly south of the hallway that leads north past the auditorium. This will provide for a straight and direct route from the parking lot, through the updated exterior entrance, past the auditorium, and into the commons area for the new gym. Also surrounding the commons area will be a new weight room and a new concession stand. Additionally, the boys locker rooms will be remodeled, and the current weight room will be converted into new girls locker rooms. This locker room placement will situate locker rooms between the two gyms, with easy access to either gym.
Classroom Improvements. Permanent walls will reduce noise and disruption in elementary classrooms.
Another bit of feedback that came from both the survey and the meetings with the staff was the need for permanent walls to separate elementary classrooms. Currently, lower elementary classrooms are separated by temporary walls that do not have doors between classrooms, and with no way to separate the noise between the classrooms. This can result in disruptions and excessive noise in the shared classroom space. As part of this revised proposal, permanent sound-proof walls with electrical outlets and permanent doors will be installed in these classrooms in place of the temporary walls.
Auditorium and Music Spaces. Plans for a new auditorium were removed, but current spaces will be improved.
The two aspects of the previous project proposal that had the lowest support in the survey were upgrades to the football/track grandstand and the construction of a new auditorium. Accordingly, with this new proposal the auditorium will remain in its current location. However, the auditorium will receive remodeling and new seats. The new seats will be reconfigured to increase the total number of chairs, and light lock rear entrances will be added. As with the auditorium, the vocal and instrumental music classrooms will also remain in their current location. Those rooms will likewise be reconfigured and revitalized. The Board has also removed upgrades to the grandstand and press box from this proposal.
Outdoor and Accessibility Upgrades: While stadium upgrades were cut, parking and accessibility remain priorities.
With parking and ADA accessibility being identified as valued elements of a facilities project, the Board has retained its plan to add a gravel parking lot northeast of the track/football facilities. There will also be an ADA-compliant concrete walkway connecting the new northeast parking lot to the grandstand and track, and to the school building. There are also still plans to install a concrete ADA-compliant walkway down the hill to the grandstand and track. Overall however, to help reduce the total cost of the project, the square footage of concrete has been scaled back from the proposal last spring.
Financing the Project. The revised $26.9 million plan comes at a lower cost with a reduced tax impact.
The total cost of the project is budgeted at $26.9 million. This is down from the proposal in May which was priced at $29.3 million. Last spring, the financing model proposed a 12-cent net increase in the tax levy to pay for the project using a 25-year financing plan. It would have involved shifting the current levy from the Special Building Fund to a seven-year lease purchase plan, with the remainder of the project paid through a voter-approved bond fund. For the updated proposal that will be voted on in December, the same structure will be used, only the net increase in levy is projected to now be 8.7 cents, and for a shorter 20-year financing plan. This updated financing plan takes greater advantage of the lease-purchase financing, and doing so is advantageous to local taxpayers because approximately 30% of those taxes are paid by the Nebraska Property Tax Credit.
Election: Ballots will be mailed in early November and must be received or turned in by December 9th.
Election day, which is the last day that ballots can be received, will be Tuesday, December 9, 2025. We anticipate that a mail-in ballot will again be utilized. If so, ballots will likely be mailed between November 2nd and 8th. The last day for in-person registration will be November 28th. In the coming weeks, the board will identify times and locations for conducting public meetings to share and receive information about the project. We will also endeavor to get information out to voters as it becomes available. With this article, we hope to take a first step in making you aware of some of the key project aspects and timeline.
As always, if you ever have questions or things you’d like to discuss, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I can be contacted in my office in person, by phone at (402) 683-2015, or by email at brian.rottinghaus@tricountyschools.org.