A $4 million bond issue with a no tax-rate increase for the Van-Far R-1 School District will be decided by Audrain County voters on April 7.

The Van-Far Board of Education approved a resolution that certified the April 2026 election and adopted the ballot language for Proposition Safe School, Strong Community during its meeting on Jan. 15.

“If we could get the Safe School, Strong Community, no-tax-increase bond to pass, that would really take us leaps and bounds on things,” Superintendent Natalie Gibson said. “It’s always good to continue to spend the public’s dollars wisely.”

If the proposition is approved, the district’s adjusted debt service levy is estimated to
remain unchanged at $0.6109 per $100 of assessed valuation of real and personal property.

Part of the district’s strategic facilities plan to improve safety in the high school includes a new, secure entryway and main office that will be constructed in the current library space.

“Even though our perimeter doors are locked, when guests enter the building, it’s slightly confusing about where the main office is,” Gibson said.

Currently, the entrance is located near the ticket booth that the school uses during athletic events. Gibson said it has been this way since she was a student, but she recently learned this can be a huge safety concern, especially since the main office is so far away.

She added that the relocation of the main office would make office staff accessible to students and also provide a secure location, away from hallway traffic, for staff to handle confidential and sensitive matters.

The renovation would also address the necessary abatement of floor tiles in the library that contain asbestos and replace the aging flooring in the hallways.

Proposed improvements at the elementary school would focus on installing new intercom systems.

When the district transitioned to internet protocol phones, Gibson said the intercom system went away.

“The way that the building is designed, the Wi-Fi on the phones doesn’t always work great,” she said. “We use an app for alerts when there is a safety concern, and that doesn’t always work the best, so we need the intercom system.”

The district also intends to use funding for new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems at the high school and elementary school gymnasiums.

According to Gibson, the two-part name of the proposition was chosen by the board because key elements will make both the elementary and the high school buildings safer, but it also continues to support the students in the Vandalia and Farber communities.

“That’s one of the things this community does so well,” she said. “We have good voter turnout from both communities and I think they will come out to support the kids.”

Gibson commended the board of education for paying down bonds early in order to make future investments possible.

“Our bonding capacity doubled in the last couple of years due to the increased valuation of the district, and that’s due to some development in the area,” she added.

This is Gibson’s second year serving as the district’s superintendent and she said there is still much to be done to improve the schools. At the meeting, the board elected to extend her term and offered her a three-year contract.

Since she started in education in 2002, Gibson has only ever worked off of single-year contracts, so this decision came as a surprise.

“There is still great potential for many things that we need to better ourselves in,” she said.

The bond measure will be decided during the April 7 general municipal election.