Lomega vote sought to construct new LHS

With a growing student enrollment in an aging building and with an economy still booming, the Lomega Board of Education hopes to capitalize while the timing appears right.

Voters in the Lomega school district on Tuesday, Feb. 12, will be asked to pass a bond issue totaling just over $15.4 million.

If approved by the necessary 60 percent super-majority, the district will build a brand-new high school and will renovate the elementary gym.

The board approved calling for the election at its December regular meeting.

“We’ve seen tremendous growth in the last three years,” said second-year Lomega Supt. Steve Shiever. “With all of the oil play, the outside money, we just felt the time was right…that this was the best time for the district to do this.”

The much-publicized drilling activity in Kingfisher and Blaine counties hasn’t left out the school district as one of the beneficiaries.

Shiever said the district’s valuation has ballooned from $15.6 million five years ago to a combined $47,369,971 this year.

That will help alleviate the tax hit residents would incur should the bond pass.

In materials provided on the Facebook page “Lomega School Bond 2019,” a person currently paying $1,000 in property taxes would see that increase by $235.69 (23.6 percent), or $19.64 a month.

The page also provided a chart comparing Lomega’s current millage rate to those in the surrounding area including all other Kingfisher County schools, Crescent, Hydro-Eakly, Minco, Hinton, Calumet, Watonga, Drummond and Fairview.

Of that list, Lomega’s current millage is the lowest at 3.87. Dover’s is the next lowest at 4.26.

Crescent has the highest at 39.03, followed by Hydro-Eakly at 35.02.

If approved, Lomega’s millage would jump to 21.90, which would still be middle of the pack, just below Drummond (24.03) and above Okarche (19.92).

Okarche, two years ago, approved a $27 million bond issue to construct, among other things, a new elementary school and gymnasium.

In drawings by Renaissance Architects, the proposed high school will be built just south of the current location in Omega.

It would cover 33,000 square feet and have 13 classrooms, including two that would double as tornado safe rooms that meet FEMA standards.

A new facility would also include a secured main entry vestibule.

Safety is among the reasons Shiever wants to see a new school constructed.

“Right now, if we have a tornado warning, we have to walk across the street to the coach’s house for shelter,” Shiever said. “And if it’s hailing outside, we have to walk through the hail or rain or whatever else is falling.

“And we also can’t secure this building we have now. The new one would be much more secure.”

The new building would also include a stage area near the dining room, a dining space that would double as assembly seating for stage viewing, a backstage area that would double as classroom space, STEM and science lab with outdoor learning space, special needs classroom and other offices, restrooms and storage areas.

At the elementary school in Loyal, the gym would see new boys and girls locker rooms constructed to meet current code.

The existing wood bleachers would be removed and replaced with new fixed chair-back seating and a section of retractable bleachers.

The existing northeast locker room space would be converted into gymnasium floor space with retractable bleachers.

The other locker rooms would be converted into storage underneath the bleachers.

The current enrollment at Lomega’s high school building, which houses seventh-12th grades, is 96 students.

That number has steadily seen growth and it’s a trend that will only continue because there are currently 130 students in the elementary school.

The average class size in the high school is 16 students; there are 32 students in Lomega’s fifth grade this year.

“That’s a lot more students,” Shiever said. “They’re going to make a big difference when they get to the high school.”

The current structure was built in the late 1960s, Shiever said.

“We were told 1968, but the oldest senior panel we have out there is 1967,” he said. “Either way, it’s more than 50 years old now.”

A community meeting was planned Saturday, Jan. 19, at the high school gym where citizens were encouraged to attend and raise any questions.