Blue Springs voters approve bond issue for career center, school updates
BLUE SPRINGS, Mo. — Voters have approved a no-tax rate increase $100 million bond issue for the Blue Springs School District on Tuesday.
According to unofficial results from the Jackson County Election Board, over 4,600 voters, or about 76%, approved the bond issue.
The bond issue, or a debt paid for by school property taxes, will not increase tax rates for those who live inside the Blue Springs School District boundaries, according to the district.
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The funds from the bond issue will go toward multiple district projects, including a new career center, performing arts spaces, additional office space and more.
The district plans to construct a state-of-the-art Career Innovation Center at its Vesper Street site for all high school students to use.
It will house programs for health sciences, physical therapy, business and entrepreneurship, gaming and technology, aviation, culinary arts, and hospitality, among others.
The district will also add a new performing arts space, which would also double as a high wind shelter, to all four of Blue Springs’ middle schools.
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Additionally, Franklin Smith, James Walker, and William Yates elementary schools will receive new office space to accommodate more counselors, mental health professionals, social workers and assistant principals.
The district will also build additional classrooms at William Yates Elementary to address space limitations, and Franklin Smith Elementary would receive new exterior updates.
Blue Springs School District said it selected the projects through a 10-Year Facilities Plan, and a citizens committee helped rank the projects.
Now that the bond issue has been approved, the district plans to start work as soon as possible.
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The Blue Springs School District hopes to have middle school additions done by August 2025 and open the Career Innovation Center in August 2026. Other projects would be finished in the 2024-25 school year.
The district also said it plans a second phase of facilities projects, including an additional bond issue, in the future to address other elementary projects and more work at the career center.
