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The Dewey Public School Board held their final regular meeting of 2022 on Monday, December 5. On the agenda were a variety of items to be approved in anticipation of the 2023-2024 school year but the most important issue the board discussed was the proposed bond issue for 2023 to provide funding for necessary upgrades and expansion to the Dewey school buildings and campus. The board has been mulling over various construction options since September but now that the deadline for issuing a bond proposal through an election is looming, the Board heard from Superintendent Vince Vincent on the status of project costs and the information was not good. Continued inflation and increasing bank interest rates are pushing their original plans into a large-scale financial loan that cannot be covered by a single bond, which would net only a little over a million when several million are now necessary.

Vincent says the bond issue will proceed but there are still some variables that need to be addressed before bringing anything to the public for a vote.

Depending on what further cost estimates are obtained, Vincent said a special board meeting may need to be called to approve the presentation and finalize the election date.