What Springfield's April Ballot Measures Could Mean for Taxpayers

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The Springfield R-12 School Board is hoping voters will help improve education in Springfield this April.

There are two funding requests on the April 2 ballot: a 20-cent operating levy increase and a bond extension.

A levy can only be used to pay operating expenses like teacher salaries or utilities, and a bond can only be used to pay for capital projects like building or renovating schools.

With class sizes in Springfield rapidly increasing, the school board is looking to voters to keep the kids in mind this April.

"The schools are getting over crowded," says Quality Schools for Kids Campaign Chairman Matt Gifford. "Class sizes are getting out of hand. The levy is about putting teachers in those classrooms. We need to support the teachers that work so hard for us every day and help those kids learn and make sure they've got the right resources to go along -- so they really go hand in hand."

There will be a 10-cent increase each year for two years, costing the owner of a $100,000 home about $38 a year. The bond however will not affect taxes; it will just extend the current bond for four more years.

Part of the bond improvements include upgrading computers to make internet faster and meet the increased demand of online student testing.

"This will get better computers and better internet services to those computers to make sure the kids can learn faster and the way it should be," Gifford says. "People need to know technology will be upgraded in every school and I think that's the part that will help all the kids."

Something supporters feel is a small price to pay to keep education in Springfield at its best.

"As we try to attract new companies and new individuals to come to town, schools are one of the first things people look at," Gifford says. "That's why our schools need to maintain that high level and I think they are very well respected in the state but they can get better by keeping up with the population growth that we've had. That's the most important part and that's why this levy and bond are so important to vote yes on April 2."

Springfield Public Schools currently has an enrollment of about 25,000 students and it's expected to grow by an average of at least 115 students each year for the next decade.

School board members say if they don't address the growth, 13 schools will exceed capacity by 2015.