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NEWPORT — The Newport School Board has set the rates for a bond and levy to be placed on the February 2026 ballot.
Amounting to $46.3 million, the bond will fund renovations to Newport High School at a rate of $1.89 per $1,000 in assessed property value for up to 23 years. Concurrently, the Newport School District is running a three-year $8.8 million Educational Programs and Operations levy. When it was last renewed in 2023, the levy collected $6.7 million over three years at a rate of $1.50 per $1,000. Next year, the district will reduce the rate to $1.45 per $1,000.
To pass, the bond requires a supermajority approval of at least 60% while the levy only requires a simple majority. The district’s last bond was $6.6 million and funded reconstruction at Sadie Halstead Middle School. That bond was approved in 2004 for 20 years, ending in 2023.
“We want to be cognizant of what we’re asking our voters for, our community for,” Superintendent Dave Smith said at the board’s Tuesday, Nov. 18 meeting.
The project to renovate Newport High School, now 45 years old and in need of preservation and modernization, is estimated to total $54.5 million. Of that, the state is expected to assist with $17.7 million.
These renovations involve upgrades to heating, ventilation and air conditioning units; the replacement of the failing roof; expansions to student health, career guidance and administrative spaces; improvements to classrooms, laboratories and career and technical spaces as well as the library, commons, stage, main gym and locker rooms; and the construction of an auxiliary gym. There will also be improvements to the parking lot and Americans with Disabilities Act paths.
“Our schools have been well maintained, but we now have a 45-year-old high school,” board member April Owen said. “Regardless of how well they’re kept, things were a little bit different 45 years ago. We educated a little bit differently. We used things differently.”
This was only one of four projects under the district’s consideration earlier this year. Two more projects constructed security vestibules at Sadie Halstead Middle and Stratton Elementary Schools, and a fourth improved the playground and practice field.
While a 30-member Facility Advisory Committee recommended that the district set a higher bond to fund all four projects, a recent survey revealed that respondents prioritized the project for Newport High School over those for Sadie Halstead Middle School, Stratton Elementary School and outdoor activity spaces. More than 200 community members responded to that survey, many of whom commented that the district had recently implemented security features at each school. As such, the board removed those projects from the bond, discussing plans to revisit them later.
“It just makes sense to listen, to put all that effort into getting people’s feedback so we can make an informed decision based on everybody’s pocketbooks,” board member Connie Moore said at the meeting, thanking all who responded to the survey.
Also on the February 2026 ballot will be the district’s EP&O levy.
Despite reducing the rate of the levy, the district expects to retain smaller elementary class sizes, athletics and other activities, nursing and counseling support, a school resource officer, gifted, career and technical and alternative programming, activity buses and classroom technology — none of which are adequately funded by the state, Smith said.
“We just can’t operate without these levy dollars, so we rely heavily on our community,” Smith said. “And if you look across the state, we are one of the lowest districts as far as what we ask our community.”
After the board voted unanimously in favor of both rates, Owen announced that they will approve the Bond and Levy Pro and Con Committees at their next meeting. Those will determine the pros and cons that appear in the voter’s pamphlet.
In other business, the board approved career and technical education director Saraya Pierce’s request to submit an application for up to $192,000 in grants, $18,000 of which she expects to receive. The remaining $174,000 consists of two asks: $30,000 for postsecondary credential and work-based learning support, and $144,000 for a driving simulator.
The Newport School Board next meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9 in the Newport School Board Room, 1380 W. Fifth St.
