In addition to building a new elementary school and the first phase of a new high school, Columbia Public Schools would use revenue from a proposed $60 million bond issue to air-condition five schools, upgrade technology and improve school structures.

Voters will be asked to approve the bond package on the April 3 ballot. Superintendent Phyllis Chase last night outlined plans for the bonds during a forum hosted by the Columbia Council of Parent Teachers Association, the Columbia Chapter Teachers Association and the Columbia Parents for Public Schools.

The bond package calls for $7.2 million to be spent on air conditioning at Benton, Blue Ridge, Fairview, Parkade and Russell Boulevard elementary schools. It costs roughly $1.5 million to air-condition older structures, Chase noted. Four of Columbia’s 19 elementary schools are air-conditioned, limiting the buildings that can be used for summer school programs.

About $5 million of the bonds would be used to purchase technology, primarily Smartboards for core classrooms and laptop computers for teachers and students.

An additional $7 million is earmarked for other building improvements, including replacement of single-pane windows with more efficient double-pane windows.

The bulk of the bond monies, $40.8 million, would be used to build another elementary school and the first phase of a new high school.

Chase wouldn’t speculate where the new elementary school would be located, saying the building would alleviate overcrowding anywhere in the district.

District officials also haven’t said where the new high school would be built. The initial phase of high school construction, a roughly $22 million project, would put up facilities for ninth-grade students and possibly 10th-graders, Chase said. The first phase also would include all of the common areas, such as a cafeteria and media lab and a classroom wing. Future bond proposals would allow additional classroom wings for 11th and 12th grades.

Plans for a new Catholic high school near Gans Road and Highway 63 in Columbia don’t alleviate the need for a third major public high school, Chase stressed.

Chase said the school district can issue the $60 million in bonds without raising current property taxes. That’s possible because of the growth estimates for the district’s assessed valuation and because the district is paying off existing debt.

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