Mexico Public Schools is preparing for a possible bond question in next April’s election.

At the Board of Education’s (BOE) regular meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 19, the board heard from Chris Jerden of Facility Solutions Group, a firm the board hired to be the district’s design and construction administration if a bond is passed and projects approved.

The meeting comes after the district was informed by its financial team, LJ Hart & Company, earlier this year, that the district is in great financial shape to ask voters for another bond.

Jerden said his team began touring Mexico’s facilities in late 2021 through February 2022 to get an idea of potential projects. The district’s committee that looks at long-range projects met recently and came up with a preliminary list of items in addition to a list of items left over from the last bond issue the district completed. 

Some of those items include replacing the rooftop air conditioning units throughout the district, updating fire alarm systems, kitchen renovations, playground renovations, and expanding parking at the high school. Preliminary estimates for those projects total about $1.7 million. Jerden described most of the projects as “cycle maintenance,” which is replacing items that have reached their lifespan.

“A lot of what we’re doing is using educated guesses based on projects that we’ve done of a similar type,” Jerden said. “Until we design it and go out to bid they’re just cost estimates.”

Jerden said there have been some new ideas added to the list as well. He and his team will meet with the long-range committee to reevaluate the list before an updated list is presented.

“We’ve got some work to do on that list,” Jerden said.

Two projects that were mentioned as leftovers involved new security measures at both the high school and middle school. Superintendent Melissa Chastain said she thinks the projects were not completed because the district ran out of money.

If the district is going to ask voters for a new bond it will have to do so by Jan. 23, 2024. The plan in the next few months is for the committee to come up with a list of potential projects for the BOE to review and comment on over several meetings and planning sessions.

According to the district’s draft documents, the bond question would be a no-tax-increase issue and the district’s debt service levy would remain at its current level of $0.8691 per $100 of assessed value. Jerden said the bond would probably be anywhere between 10-12 projects and would take about three years to complete.