Johnson County school district to see upgrades after voters approve $100 million bond

The Gardner Edgerton School District will see several district-wide upgrades after voters passed its school bond — with 2,236 people voting in support and 1,581 people voting against the bond, according to unofficial election results.

A little over 3,000 residents within the district’s boundaries cast their ballot for the April 1 election, representing just over 19% of the district’s registered voters.

With voter approval, the $100 million bond will help fund construction of a new elementary school, convert Sunflower Elementary into an early childhood learning center for students with special needs, construct a new district office, upgrade security features across campuses, and make improvements to common spaces at the high school.

The school district placed the bond on the special election ballot to keep up with western Johnson County’s rapid growth — with nearly 7,000 potential housing units identified in development stages in the next 10 years.

Residents had mixed feelings about it — with some eager to support the district’s request and others concerned about how it will affect their property taxes and how the loss of Sunflower Elementary, in particular, will impact their daily commute.

District officials said that the bond will not result in an increase in property taxes, and the loss of Sunflower will prompt the district to look at school rezoning — something it attempted to do in 2018.

“We’ll spend several months gathering input and find that happy place where we can find balanced buildings and hopefully keep them balanced in the future so we will have to project where the growth is going to be,” Superintendent Brian Huff said in a previous interview. “We might have a building that starts out rather empty, knowing we’ll have more growth in the area.”

The Johnson County Election Office will finalize results on April 9.