On Tuesday, Rapid City voters will decide on a nearly $190-million bond to rebuild and renovate some of its schools.
Opponents say problems do exist, but the current proposal is too vague. Proponents say information is available—and has been for years.
If approved, the bond will fund construction of three new elementary schools and one new middle school. The six-year plan on the Rapid City Area Schools’ website also shows $12-million for “pathways upgrades, safety and security upgrades, and deferred maintenance needs.”
But opponents like Tonchi Weaver say those are vague promises. On SDPB’s In the Moment program, she says voters should have more specifics before approving a tax increase to foot the bill.
“We believe if you’re going to spend this kind of money over this long a term—25 years is a generational debt—then you should at least know the limitations of that spending.”
Weaver adds the website with information about the bond election is run by the school district and only surfaced last fall.
But supporters say they’ve worked through the process of developing a bond election for years—including a task force and other community feedback meetings.
Mike Roesler is president of the school board. He says information on the bond process has been available all along.
“We can’t coerce people to look in on all we do," he says, "but our meetings are open meetings, our records are public records. Just by the fact that people haven’t asked me a lot of questions makes me think there’s not been a lot of interest in that until kind of the negative campaigns have kicked up the question.”
And though approving the bond means an increase in property taxes, Tom Johnson of Elevate Rapid City says the trade offs impact everyone.
“If we can’t get the kind of doctors that you need, the specialists that we need in Rapid City, we’re gonna have a hard time attracting talent. And I think some of these seniors are going to have to drive to these more prosperous communities and get healthcare if we don’t have these specialists.”
Johnson says quality of life—including good school facilities—is key to recruiting businesses to the area.