Bond to decide future for school updates

    Papillion’s district grows yearly, so schools have to match that growth with modernizing and expanding their equipment and facilities. Papillion-La Vista South is no different. The school’s older facilities, such as the theater where plays are conducted and the baseball fields where practice is done, will be updated with software and modernized to best fit the school. Additions will also be built, including a brand new flex room and added safety measures to keep the school more secure. This will all be achieved by a bond called No Tax Rate Increase, meaning taxes in the district won’t go up.

     All voting is done with mail-in ballots, due May 9. Like every bond that requires voting, it could possibly be struck down. If it is, it can’t be put back up for voting until it’s been reformed. Mr. Jeff Spilker, principal at Papillion-La Vista South, said, “They go back to the drawing board, and they look at the bond proposal and make some adjustments to it.” That could include removing some updates, changing pricing, or something else.

     Papillion-La Vista South’s most important updates will involve safety. Spilker said,  “Safety is a top priority for us.” He expects that above everything, the new safety features will be the first things built from the bond. This includes new glass that can withstand and resist much more damage then what ours have now. Door monitoring would also be implemented, meaning that it would be harder for an intruder to enter.

     One of the most impactful pieces of this bill are the updates for the theater. The need for software and technical updates to the microphones and lighting would better the immersion and bring a whole new light onto the actors. With every new play, storage can become a hassle, so a brand new storage room is being introduced. It could hold costumes, props, and any other things that the theater program may need. On top of all of this, only minor disruptions will come from these updates and expansions, as the theater would remain open for a majority of the year.

     A new flex room would also be built for extra class space, and also to serve as a multi-purpose room for hosting guest speakers and other school-related meetings. It will be located behind the southernmost gym, near the freshman wing. Since it’s being built from the outside, school life won’t be disrupted, and students can work with no distractions.

     Originally, our baseball fields were built to be bare bones, only for practice and not for games. That hopefully changes with this bond. Our baseball fields are made mainly out of dirt, and with Nebraska’s awful weather and storms, it becomes an unusable and muddy area. Under such circumstances, practice can’t be done and games can’t be played, and sharing facilities is difficult. Spilker and others lead a charge to change this. “We want to put ourselves on par with our competition, so that means upgrading those facilities to have a playing surface… on par with our competitors,” says Spilker.

     There’s no stated timeline for the bond expansions, but Spilker said the greatest needs will take precedent. For him, that will be the newest safety additions. When Papillion-La Vista South didn’t have enough room to accommodate incoming freshmen, the freshman wing was the first thing built in 2020.