The Lake Today

The community of the Lake of the Ozarks is having recent changes around the area. These changes make it necessary for the schools to change, too.

The Camdenton School District is looking into constructing a new building for Osage Beach Elementary, renovating parts of Hurricane Deck, and making all of the Camdenton school buildings safer. Will the communities support the needs of Camdenton schools? On April 2 the students and staff will find out.

All of the elementary buildings in the Camdenton School District have shown an increase in enrollment in the past few years. Statistics have shown that the Osage Beach Elementary and Hurricane Deck buildings have been close to their maximum capacity for a number of years. The district agreed to run a bond to help solve these problems. This will help the schools be able to have more students in each building, accommodating current and future growth.

“We will run a bond election in April,” said Tim Hadfield, the school’s superintendent said. “If the issue is approved, we would work immediately with our architect. A typical school building project takes two or three years.”

These projects will run the school district around $30 million for the new school building and renovations of Hurricane Deck Elementary, $8 million for refinancing other debt and $5 million for security improvements.

“Facility upgrades in Osage Beach and Hurricane Deck have been on the books for years,” Hadfield explained. This bond will not raise area taxes. “Due to recent increase in elementary student enrollment, especially at Osage Beach Elementary, our interest was renewed.”

This non-tax raising bond will help bring equality and accommodate growth at all of the elementary buildings. This will make it possible for all students at every elementary building to have equal opportunities. One example of this is every elementary building will have a cafeteria separate from their gym.

Making the schools safer is a vital interest of the district because of the tragedy at Sandy Hook, Conn.

“Each school entrance and other areas of the schools will be thoroughly studied, and any problem areas will be addressed,” stated Nancy Masterson, the district’s school board president. The entrances to all of the buildings will be made more secure. The students and staff will be much safer in each of the buildings in the district. Each building will receive these improvements.

As the Lake community grows and changes, it is also time for the schools to change, too. The future of kids’ education could be assisted by the ballots if Lake voters approve the bond on April 2. If voters approve this issue, the school can make the changes necessary to keep up with the growing community.