Dozens gather at forum as Hallsville School District discusses November bond issue, four-day school week
Mitchell Kaminski
HALLSVILLE, Mo. (KMIZ)
A crowd of more than 60 community members, teachers and staff gathered Tuesday night in the Hallsville Secondary Cafeteria as district leaders outlined plans for Proposition 2 and the proposed continuation of the four-day school week on the Nov. 4 ballot.
Superintendent Tyler Walker said the district’s goal is to ensure residents have accurate information and an opportunity to ask questions before the election.
Proposition 2 would authorize the issuance of $6.5 million in general obligation bonds to continue addressing the district’s facility needs. Voters approved the measure on April 8 with 75% support, but the State Auditor’s Office later declined to certify the bond because the Boone County Clerk’s Office did not meet publication requirements outlined in Missouri law.
Under state statute, the clerk’s office must publish legal notice in two newspapers of general circulation with differing political affiliations at least one week before the election. Walker said the notice was published too early.
“The way that was described to me is that’s how she [Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon] has always done it,” Walker said. “She generally, because Boone County has a lot of weekly newspapers and not a lot of daily newspapers, she always tries to err on the side of caution and put something of a publication in the newspaper a week too early rather than too late and that’s kind of been her general practice.”
Because of the certification issue, the Hallsville Board of Education voted in June to place Proposition 2 on the November ballot and approved final bond language in July. Walker said design teams have met bi-weekly for the past five months, with Phase 2 designs now about 60% complete and an estimated cost of $5.8 million.
According to Walker, Phase 2 has been in planning since 2021, when the district began conducting community surveys to identify facility needs.
If approved, Proposition 2 would fund the second phase of a three-phase improvement plan, including expanded parking and improved traffic flow on the main campus, new classrooms at Hallsville Primary School, a relocated baseball field, a multipurpose field with an artificial surface, additional security doors at school entrances, and refinancing of a lease-purchase agreement. Phase 1, completed in 2024, included a new middle school wing, storm shelter, and football field.
Walker said the district will need 67% voter approval in November — up from the 57% threshold required in April.
“We have to have a 67%, which adds a little bit more drama to the whole thing, if you will,” he said. “But again, in April we had 75%. So we’ve got about an 8% buffer, which you’d like to have. I’m confident that our community is going to support us again.”
If Proposition 2 does not pass, Walker said it would be difficult for the district to fund needed projects.
“It makes it really difficult because we have to have this money. We don’t have a high assessed valuation,” he said. “So this valuation is based on the businesses in our community and we just don’t have a lot of that in Hallsville. So we rely on a lot of state aid and bond issues to be passed in order to get the funding we need to advance the projects. We know that parking is a big thing and we’re going to continue on with that as quickly as we can.”
The forum also addressed the district’s four-day school week, which began in 2022. The current schedule exceeds state instructional requirements by 33 hours, according to district officials.
A “yes” vote on Nov. 4 would allow Hallsville to continue the four-day week for the next 10 years, pending Board of Education approval.
A “no” vote would require a return to a five-day schedule with 21 additional school days, which Walker said would add about $190,000 in costs to the district budget to pay bus drivers, janitors, and maintenance staff.
Walker said the four-day week has helped the district stay competitive in recruiting and retaining quality educators.
“The four-day school week allows us to recruit and retain those teachers that may be enticed to go to a larger district with a higher salary,” Walker said. “And so we aren’t able to provide that same salary. And so in order to be competitive and get those teachers to Hallsville, we have to think outside the box a little bit. That outside-the-box thinking has brought us to the four-day school week, which has allowed us to better recruit, better retain those high-quality veteran teachers that we’re looking for.”
Walker emphasized that both the bond proposal and the four-day week are ultimately about providing the best environment for students.
“The very underlying issue is that we’re trying to do the best we can for kids,” he said. “So whether that’s building new facilities, upgrading facilities, adding more safety or if it’s recruiting high-quality teachers to the classroom, it’s for our kids and I think our community understands that.”