KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
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The $32.5 million bond proposal for the Piper Unified School District failed Tuesday.
In 2022, voters first passed Phase 1, a $64 million bond that included Piper High School.
Rising construction costs forced Tuesday’s vote, which would have finished the athletic complex, added classroom space and funded new devices for students and teachers.
“We want to finish what we started,” said Dr. Jessica Dain, USD 203’s superintendent.
Dr. Dain said Phase 2 of the bond would have also funded bathroom stalls for the concession stands at the district’s community center and would have made the stadium ADA compliant, thus leading to outdoor graduation at the district’s stadium.
KSHB 41’s Rachel Henderson spoke with Dr. Dain on Monday, a day before the special election, in Piper Middle School’s basement.
“This space continues to be the space that we utilize for visiting teams when they come for football,” Dain said. “We don't have the classroom space that we know we're going to need in the next 5 to 10 years.”
When Dr. Dain began her role in 2021, she says it would have cost $107 million to fund a bond that could have paid for all the necessary improvements.
The most recent bond that had passed at that time was around $30 million.
“We felt like that was too much of a jump for our community and too much to ask in taxes to go from a $30 million bond to a $107 million bond in one fell swoop,” Dain said. “That was the reason why we divided this into two different parts. We took care of a larger part in Phase 1, and Phase 2 is ensuring that we have what we need as we move forward.”
Dr. Dain says the idea has always been to have two phases, but voting on this second bond was the result of unexpected construction costs, thanks to inflation.
“It was something that none of us could have anticipated,” Dain said.
Diane Smith, a voter who voted ‘no,’ says she and other taxpayers are tired of dealing with high property taxes in Wyandotte County.
She voted yes in 2022 but no this time around.
“They should have planned it better, of what their needs were, instead of continuing to burden taxpayers,” Smith said. “As a retiree, it makes it extra hard to keep up with our property taxes.”
Dain says this project will still need to be completed somehow, and bonds are the best way for districts to fund construction projects.
“Unfortunately, the way that school finance is set up, we don’t have that type of revenue where we’re not businesses or nonprofits that can go out and raise millions and millions and millions of dollars to do this,” Dain said.
When the district goes out for a future bond, she can’t guarantee costs will be lower.
She says this bond was planned for benefits 15 to 20 years in the future.
“The growth is happening, there’s nothing we can do to stop that growth, but what we do know is the cost of construction never gets less expensive,” Dain said.
Sanna Schneeberger has felt the burden of high taxes as well.
She voted "Yes" both times under the impression that both phases of the bond needed to be completed.
“It was part of the original plan,” Schneeberger said. “It’s just that the prices went up, and they had to say, ‘Well, let’s wait. Let’s finish the actual buildings where the students are going to be learning, make sure that we have the classrooms in place.'”
After the first bond passed, Schneeberger recalls her taxes increasing by $300.
“That was a lot, and that wasn’t planned,” she said. “It was a little bit difficult because we hadn’t gotten rid of any bills for us to have a $300 a month charge that we were receiving.”
This time around, she was expecting the same increase.
“But when we went to the bond presentation, we found out that they were only going to charge us no more than $12 a month,” Schneeberger said.
If the bond had passed, a $500,000 home would have paid an additional $12 in property taxes each month.
This district shared this information in a series of bond presentations it held for the community leading up to the election.
The one Schneeberger attended was enough to change her mind.
“We felt like, what’s $12?” Schneeberger said. “We’re already paying that top dollar, we’re still living here. We didn’t decide to move. That’s not going to break the bank for us to be able to have the right type of facilities for them to finish the project.”
Schneeberger has had five children come through the district and says her family moved to the district because of how ‘top notch’ the schools are.
In her eyes, updated facilities are a part of that.
“Those types of things are important when you’re looking at morale, when you’re looking at kids feeling proud of what they’re at and performance makes a big difference when you feel like you have a facility that is up to par, that is state of the art,” Schneeberger said. “It was important for that project to finish, and I’m very disappointed that the kids in this particular district won’t have the completed fields that they compete on. They won’t be able to have spectators come to the nice field that they have.”
She’s hoping this can be up for re-election soon, but she also understands other factors have to change.
“I feel like for voter turnout, it's always been low,” Schneeberger said.
It was 21 percent this year, the same amount as 2022.
Out of the 10,878 registered voters, there were 2,358 ballots cast.
There was about a 600-vote difference between "Yes" and "No" votes, with 861 "No" votes and 1,496 "Yes" votes.
“We had the potential, we had the opportunity, and now we're missing the opportunity,” Schneeberger said.
In a statement, the district thanked those who participated and expressed its disappointment:
We want to extend our sincere thanks to all members of the Piper community who took the time to vote in this election. While we are, of course, disappointed that the bond did not pass, we are grateful to those who practiced their civic right and participated in the process.
With just over 20% voter turnout, this election reminds us of the importance of community engagement in shaping the future of our schools. Piper is truly a hidden gem in Wyandotte County. Families choose to live here because of the strength of our schools, the dedication of our educators, and the potential we see in every student.
As we move forward, we remain committed to transparency, excellence, and advocating for the resources our students and staff deserve. We encourage our patrons to stay informed and engaged in the important work happening across our district. Supporting our schools means supporting the future of our community.
We are proud of our students, our staff, and the work being done every day in Piper—and we hope our community continues to show up, speak up, and stand behind the success of our kids.
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