Ravenna Public Schools Announces March Bond Election to Address Urgent Facility Needs

Listen to an interview with Superintendent Ken Schroeder below.

Ravenna, Nebraska – Ravenna Public Schools will ask the community to vote on a school bond to create a safer, more inclusive, and updated school for students. This project will address urgent facility needs and improve the school’s learning spaces for agriculture, art, welding, robotics, middle school special education, and more. It will also provide secure entrances and keep all students under one roof.

To fund the project, the RPS Board of Education has called a special election on March 11 for a school bond not to exceed $5,500,000. It will be an election by mail.

Dr. Ken Schroeder, superintendent, explained that most district property owners will see no increase in their tax rate the following year, if the bond passes. “If the bond passes, the board can lower some existing school taxes earmarked for facility improvements, because those building needs will be taken care of by the bond project. For example, the Special Building Fund is currently levied at nearly 14 cents per hundred. That can be dropped down to 3 cents. This means there should actually be a district wide tax rate decrease for the 2025-26 budget cycle.”

Key projects included in the bond:
-Identifiable Entrance with Secure Vestibule: A new, secure entrance will improve safety and security for students and staff.
-Career and Technical Education Spaces: A new addition will provide modern classrooms for career and technical education programs to prepare students for in-demand jobs. This includes a new agriculture shop (welding/mechanics), classrooms for agriculture, art and robotics, a weight room, and a renovated woods/mechanics classroom.
-Bring All Students Under One Roof: Moving classrooms from the north buildings into the school will provide a more inclusive experience for students, particularly those in middle school special education. It will also allow the school to secure all entrances, as students won’t need to leave the main school to attend classes anymore. The project will also provide a corridor to link the main building to the Life Skills classroom located in the former Youth Center.  
-Provide additional plumbing fixtures in the girls’ high school locker room. The girls’ locker room has only one bathroom stall, which is not enough for the number of students.
-Better utilization of the office space to provide for a teacher work room, LMHP office, and a flexible meeting space for staff and community use. 

Ravenna Public Schools is hosting two public meetings to provide the community with information about the upcoming school bond election. The meetings will take place on Monday, February 10 at 8 p.m. and Wednesday, February 19 at 7 p.m. in the school auditorium. Tours of the school will be available following the meetings.

For more information, please contact the Ravenna Public Schools office at 308.452.3249 or visit the special website the district has set up at www.ravennabond.com.