Ash Grove R-4 planning for spring bond issue

When voters living in the Ash Grove R-IV School District go to the polls next April, they will be asked to approve a bond to pay for additions to the Ash Grove Elementary School building. Dr. Aaron Gerla, superintendent of schools, said the additions will provide much needed space at the school.
“We are out of room at Ash Grove Elementary,” said Dr. Aaron Gerla, he said. “These additions are much needed and will help us provide the quality services that you can expect from our school district.”
Gerla said the additions would include new classrooms and other facilities to the building.
“The new additions include six new classrooms, bathroom additions, an outdoor classroom, and a gym that will double as a district safe room,” he said. “Assuming the bond were to pass, we would start construction late spring to early summer of 2023.”
Currently, Gerla said, an estimated cost for the additions was not available, but he expects to be able to provide them in the near future.
“The final cost is still being figured by our architect, but we should have the final numbers soon,” he said.
If the bond passes, Gerla said, there would be a $.30 increase in the district’s tax levy.
“Ash Grove is very fortunate to have one of the lowest tax levies in all of SW Missouri,” he said, “so even with the tax increase, we would still have an extremely low tax levy.”
Coincidentally, the Ash Grove and Bois D’Arc Elementary Schools will be reroofed at about the same time the proposed additions would be made to Ash Grove Elementary. However, Gerla said, these are separate from the elementary school expansion and would not be covered by the bond.
“The roofing projects at the two elementaries are separate projects that we will fund completely separate from the bond issue but all near the same timeline,” he said.