Prop S FAQs

Proposition S is Pattonville’s $111 million no-tax-rate-increase bond issue that was approved by voters by 79.4% on April 5, 2022. The bond issue will fund additional classrooms and learning spaces; provide safety and maintenance improvements; and update school facilities to meet current and future teaching and learning needs for students. Passage of the bond issue does not increase the district’s debt service tax rate, which is used solely to fund construction and major repair and improvement projects in the district. A four-sevenths super-majority (57.14%) was required for approval of the bond issue.

Funds from the no-tax-rate-increase bond issue will support the following priorities determined by Pattonville families and staff:

• Add classrooms to address growth in student enrollment;

• Provide safety and maintenance improvements; and

• Update schools to meet teaching and learning needs for students.

For a complete list of projects by school, return to the main page of this website.

Bonds are low-interest loans the district pays back using funds from its debt service levy. Funds from the debt service levy cannot be used to pay for salaries, classroom supplies or other routine, budgeted items that support teaching and learning in the classroom. Pattonville can borrow up to $111 million in bond funds without raising the debt service levy used to repay the financing. This is the same situation that occurred when Pattonville voters approved previous no-tax-rate-change bond issues to complete repairs and improvements to schools in the district. Pattonville committed to keeping its debt service levy at 49 cents when voters approved these bond issues, and the district has kept this promise despite being legally able to adjust the rate due to decreases in property values. With the new bond issue, Pattonville is able to complete the projects in a new facilities plan using the same existing levy.

No, state law only allows debt service revenue to be used for the repayment of principal and interest on general obligation bonds.

A no-tax-rate-increase bond issue works much like a home equity loan, where a homeowner who pays down his or her debt can spend up to his or her credit limit again for new projects without paying more in his or her monthly loan payment.

In the past decade, district enrollment has grown by nearly 10% and future enrollment projections indicate the district may need additional capacity for approximately 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade in the near future.

Year Enrollment

2010: 5,509

2022: 6,071

Change: + 562

Yes. Briar Crest is now the Pattonville Early Childhood Center and has 17 classes. Those 17 classrooms would largely be distributed among Pattonville's elementary schools if the Early Childhood Center was not operational. The center was opened in order to free up classroom space in the elementary schools and enable the district to maintain lower elementary class sizes. Briar Crest closed in 2012 due to budget constraints and elementary students were redistricted into existing elementary buildings. Pattonville’s early childhood program is paid for by a combination of state/federal funds and parent tuition and provides services for students ages 3 through 5, including those with disabilities.

Beginning in April 2021, Pattonville leaders worked with parents, students and staff to develop a district-wide facilities plan to ensure Pattonville’s schools are well maintained and meet the educational needs of its students. The Pattonville Board of Education hired Ittner Cordogan Clark Group, an architectural firm, to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of district buildings and assist Pattonville in developing the new plan. Ittner has assisted other school districts in the St. Louis region and across Missouri with school facilities planning. School leaders worked with their school improvement teams (SIT), made up of half staff, half parent/student/community members, to develop project lists for their individual schools and seek parent and staff feedback. In addition, the district solicited feedback from the Pattonville community through a community telephone and online survey in the fall of 2021.

The current scope of the district-wide facilities master plan has many projects that depend on other projects being completed, which is the case for the Holman gym.

Constructing a new gym attached to the school building (near the current Gym A) solves two issues. First, it addresses a longstanding safety concern. For years, staff and parents have asked for a way for students to access the free-standing Gym B without having to walk outside. Due to the way traffic flows on the site, this has been impossible.

Second, building the new gym will enable Gym B to be used for both the transportation and printing services departments. Transportation has long been short on space and its facilities are in great need of repair and improvement. The old Gym B will be repurposed for transportation expansion, with much of it being converted into four service bays and a fifth bay serving as a wash bay. Currently the district has two undersized service bays.

The printing services department, which is currently located on the campus of Pattonville Heights Middle School, would also be moved to Holman’s old Gym B building, enabling the current print shop (which was the gym of the former Maryland Heights High School) to be torn down and space added for more parking and for improved, safer traffic flow on the Heights campus, which regularly sees traffic back up onto Fee Fee.

While there are no plans to change the size or grade levels at Remington Traditional School, Remington’s middle school program plays an important role in reducing overcrowding at Pattonville’s other middle schools. The new facilities plan includes renovating the educational space used by the sixth, seventh and eighth grade students at Remington to better reflect the needs of older students.

Enclosing the bridge connecting the front entrance of the high school to the community auditorium will serve many purposes:

• • Provide a safe and more secure, easy-to-identify front entrance;

  • Provide additional interior, usable space, including space for collaboration and meetings; and

  • Provide the opportunity to add more rooms for performing arts.

Architects will work with parents and staff on a final design that best meets their needs, including any issues with traffic flow. The number of available parking spaces will remain unchanged.