Residents within the boundary of Miller Grove Independent School District are asked to go to the pole next week to consider approving a $2 million bond election “for the construction, acquisition, renovation and equipment of school buildings in the district.”
Miller Grove ISD Board of Trustees officially called for the election on Feb. 11. Early voting by personal appearance began last week, and will resume from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, April 29-30. Voting will be conducted from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election Day, Saturday, May 4. The high school gymnasium serves as the polling site for all voting in the MGISD bond election.
“The bond proposal is the result of ongoing communication between the community and school for the purpose of addressing existing Miller Grove ISD facilities and new facility construction. Projects will address the safety of our students, compliance with accessibility, and other physical facility aspects,” district officials posted as a Message from the District.
The bond will allow the district to construct a new Multipurpose Center in place of the old gymnasium, which is used primarily for elementary physical education classes and Little Dribblers, according to MGISD Superintendent Steve Johnson.
Funding permitting, the Multipurpose Center would include a new elementary gymnasium, UIL-compliant state for the fine arts students, concessions and kitchen area, restrooms.
This would be utilized primarily by the elementary PE classes, but would also include a stage for the drama department to use to prepare for competitions and community performances, and could even potentially serve as a site for graduations and other community events.
Having a designated stage at the school would be a huge help to the high school and junior high drama classes, who currently have to be transported to other schools such as Paris Junior College in order to practice on a stage of approved UIL standards prior to competition, according to Johnson.
Space and funding provided, there would also be room for future expansion of classes as well as weight and locker room.
This would allow all of the elementary area to be covered, so students could walk to all sections used by those grade, regardless the weather, safely. The facility could also potentially be utilized by the community in the future as well, according to Johnson.
If approved, the elementary students would most-likely have to walk down to the secondary gym until the new multi-function center could be constructed, with students bused from one end of campus to the other in the event or heavy rain and cold weather, until the project is complete, according to the superintendent.
Ideally, the new MGISD Multipurpose Center would accessible to another project the district is undertaking – construction of an 8-lane illuminated UIL-sanctioned track, 90 feet from the north side of the baseball field. Funding from the maintenance and operations portion of school tax collections will be utilized to fund this project, made possible in part to a land donation.
Johnson said the district would eventually like to see the center finished out with a concessions area and restrooms accessible from the track.
A new multipurpose center would also better accommodate the population growth at the elementary level. The district has experienced a 43.6 percent growth over the last 15 years, a 44.6 percent increase in elementary population in the last 6 years, with increases in each of those years except 2016. Overall, MGISD currently has 326 students enrolled in classes.
For more information about the bond election and proposed project, visit the MGISD website or contact the MGISD administration at (903) 459-3288.
