Loomis Public Schools
Community Input Meeting #1
Welcome
Scott Schukar - Board President
Mike Szekely - Vice President
Farren Nelson - Secretary
Luke Thorell - Treasurer
Kelly Anderson
Denny Pouk
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Purpose of the Meeting
1. To provide an overview of what led us to this point.
2. To gain input, feedback, and insight regarding the design and finance options of the proposed facility updates for Loomis Public Schools.
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HOW DID WE GET HERE?
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Timeline
1. Fall of 2023: Packed classrooms, space issues with growing enrollment. Undersized facilities. - Aging facilities.
a. Discussions with the staff – Survey – April 2024
b. Discussions with the board about the needs of the district.
1. May 2024: Contracted w/ Wilkins ADP to help construct a staff survey.
2. June 2024: Engaged Wilkins ADP to conduct a facility audit to determine facility needs with the school board.
3. July 2024: Wilkins ADP shared Facility Audit findings to board.
4. July 2024: A special board meeting was held to take facility audit findings and generate a priority list of facility needs w/ advisory committee.
5. September 2024: The Board toured Wilcox, Amherst and Cozad school building additions.
6. October 2024: Wilkins ADP provided design options A-C based upon the findings from the facility audit and the advisory committee priorities.
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Timeline
7. January 2025: Contracted Northland - Tobin Buchanan
8. January 2025: Board worked with the KSB Law Firm to hire a construction manager. Criteria was chosen to make selections.
9. February 2025: Board Selection Committee Interviewed and Hired Hausman Construction to serve as construction manager.
10. March 2025: Approval of the Construction Manager Contract
11. April 2025 – 1st Community meeting.
12. May 2025 - 2nd of two community input meetings
13. June - July 2025: Bond input and education
14. September 9th, 2025: Bond Election
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Staff Survey
Survey -
Distributed to the staff in April ‘24.
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Packed Classrooms
1. We have had to split classes. Rooms are tight with 20+ students.
2. All of the current rooms in the school serve a purpose, which leaves us with no extra space to pull students or have additional classes.
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Industrial Technology Space
LPS currently offers:
Classes are limited to 15 students.
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Wrestling Room
With the addition of NSAA Girls Wrestling there are space restrictions.
25-26 Season - 16 boys, 5 girls,
5 coaches
Youth Program - Average 25-30 kids. (Currently run 2 groups)
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Hallway Storage
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Weight Room
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The current space is 865 sq. ft. A safe weight room area 10 sq. ft. per student.
Classes are limited to 16 students per class.
We currently have 1 class with 23 students.
4 weights classes offered
Nursing Station
We do not have a place for sick students to wait for their parents to pick them up.
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Added classes
Home EC - Student Request
Alternative Kindergarten
Potential Summer Program
The students in grades 8-11 were surveyed. 65% requested Home Ec classes be added in the future.
The Home Ec room is currently used for FFA.
LPS had 31 students on the Pre-school list this year.
A Summer program would enable students to read, write and enjoy fun activities.
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Current Enrollment - 268
PK-20
K - 18
1st - 22
2nd - 16
3rd - 17
4th - 19
5th - 18
6th - 20
Total - 150
7th - 19
8th - 21
9th - 22
10th - 20
11th - 15
12th - 19
Transition - 2
Total - 118
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Option Enrollment
Current Option IN - 107
Net Option Funding -
25-26 - $816,600
24-25 - $828,652
Current Option OUT - 25
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WOL
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Our Why…
The Board of Education and the administrative team of LPS are truly taking this process seriously. Attention is being given to all aspects of this type of project, namely:
1) The financial burden placed on all district stakeholders.
2) What is needed to create a quality and viable educational option for the Loomis District residents, as well as, potential option enrollment students. Loomis Public Schools has used option enrollment to its benefit for many years and creating the best learning environment puts our best foot forward to continue to be a viable option for all students.
WOLVES
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Our Why…
3) Making Loomis an attractive option in the event that voluntary or forced mergers of school districts ever has to become a part of our future story.
4) How this process can best benefit the community. Not only could a construction project create a short-term financial impact to the community through the numerous construction workers that will pass through over a 18 month time frame, but the long-term vitality of the community truly hinges on having a school in town well into the future.
We view Loomis Public Schools as something worth fighting for, both for our current staff/students and for future generations of students and community members that call Loomis home!
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Facility Audit Summary
PROJECT DESIGN OPTIONS
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Option A.2
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Option C.3
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Gym Examples
Summerland Public Schools
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Gym Examples
Cozad Community Schools
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Gym Examples
Kearney High School
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PROJECT COST INFORMATION
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“ALL-IN” PROJECTED COST
oOPTION A.2 = $9.4 MILLION
OPTION C.3 = $25 MILLION
oIncludes Hard Construction Costs, Cost Escalation/Inflation,
Contingency, Design/Engineering, Bond Issuance Costs, Furniture/Equipment, Testing
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FINANCIAL/TAX INFORMATION
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$25,000,000 Bond Issue*
o20 year bond @ 4.40 percent interest rate
oAvg Annual Bond Payment (P and I) = $1,888,658
oBond levy = 42.5 cents per $100 of valuation
oExisting bond tax ($232,000) will be retired
oNET LEVY IMPACT = 37.5 cents per $100 of valuation
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⇨24-25 Valuation $599,280,361
⇨24-25 LB 2 Valuation $444,395,750
LB 2 went into effect January 2022 and reduces ag land from 75 to 50 percent assessed value for purposes of the bond.
Results in a higher bond levy and a shift from ag land to all property in the district for the bond payment only.
Impact of LB2 Valuation
$25,000,000 Bond Issue*
o20 year bond @ 4.40 percent interest rate
oAvg Annual Bond Payment (P and I) = $1,888,658
oBond levy = 42.5 cents per $100 of valuation
oExisting bond tax ($232,000) will be retired
oNET LEVY IMPACT = 37.5 cents per $100 of valuation
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Taxpayer Impact-37.5 Cents
Property (residential, commercial, farm) Per Year Per Month
$100,000 $375 $31.25
$210,317 $789 $65.75
$500,000 $1,875 $156.25
Ag Land (per year)*
Per Quarter. Per Acre
Irrigated $2,513 $15.71
Dryland $1,099 $ 6.87
Grass $515 $ 3.22
*Based on average assessed value per acre Phelps County 2024 NE Dept of Rev Report.
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$25,000,000 Bond Issue*
O 25 year bond @ 4.50 percent interest rate
O Avg Annual Bond Payment (P and I) = $1,688,000
O Bond levy = 38.0 cents per $100 of valuation
O Existing bond tax ($232,000) will be retired
O NET LEVY IMPACT = 33.00 cents per $100 of valuation
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Taxpayer Impact-33.0 Cents
Property (residential, commercial, farm)
Per Month Per Year
$100,000 $330 $27.50
$210,317 $694 $57.83
$500,000 $1,650 $137.50
Ag Land (per year)*
Per Quarter. Per Acre
Irrigated $2,211 $13.82
Dryland $967 $6.04
Grass $453 $2.83
*Based on average assessed value per acre Phelps County 2024 NE Dept of Rev Report.
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Other Financial Considerations
o1.7 cent tax impact per $1,000,000 of bonds issued
oPre LB2 bond levy impact would be 31.5 cents vs. 37.5 cents
oLB2 reduces impact on irrigated acre/per year by $7.85
oNo tax credit on bond issue
oIf existing valuation increases then bond levy can decrease
o‘New’ valuation growth would decrease tax impact on current residents
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Questions
Survey
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Questions
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