Hancock County voters to decide on school bond issue

With the general election approaching Tuesday, Nov. 3, voters in Hancock County will decide whether to approve a school bond issue that would increase taxes while funding improvements for the Bay St. Louis-Waveland School District.

The proposed bond would provide $19 million in funding over a 20-year period, according to district officials. The funding would help address aging facilities at Bay High School, as well as expand academic and career opportunities for students.

TJ Burleson, the district’s chief financial officer, said the school building’s age and history of storm damage have contributed to the need for improvements.

“The building is about 61 years old. It went through Hurricane Katrina. It was repaired after Hurricane Katrina to bring back up to the standard that it was on August 28 before Katrina hit, and that’s all that FEMA would allow us to do. But over the years, the moisture has really taken a toll on the building.”

Bradley Ladner, the district’s chief operations officer, said a previous bond proposal in 2022 was unsuccessful, but the district continues to face issues with two sections of the campus, the gym and the testing hall.

“We tried passing the bond in 2022. You know we all know that was unsuccessful. Now here we are talking about it again. These two wings, the problems that we face here, they’re not going away. We have to address those problems at some point, very soon, we’ve continued to make improvements throughout this entire campus, and that’s again, like I said earlier, is not going to stop. But these two buildings, at some point, we have to make a decision that’s going to cost a significant amount of money.”

Beyond facility improvements, district officials say the bond would allow the school to expand career and technical education programs.

Zach Ferry, the district’s athletic director and career and technical education director, said the district hopes to add many new programs for students.

“With the bond, we’d be able to offer much more classes. We’re looking at offering welding. That’s been our most popular. We have a wait list at both Hancock and Long Beach. So having our own welding class would allow us to get more kids in it. HVAC is another one that either Hancock or Long Beach doesn’t have. So with this partnership, we would be able to not only provide for our students, but also be able to take in students from Hancock and Long Beach. Another one that we have that we’re looking to try to provide is our IT and cybersecurity, and so that’s a big, big hot topic now. Trying to get kids these certifications that by leaving high school, they’re they’re competing for high level, high paying jobs coming right out of high school, and then these companies would offer to pay for their colleges if they have these type of certifications to go to.”

The district also wants to expand its sports medicine program to offer additional opportunities for students interested in nursing.

“We just want to remind the voters that this is a one and a half mil increase to their taxes. Waveland residents will actually see a slight decrease in their taxes because of the way the city reduced their millage by 2.2 mills this year. Though we just need them to understand that this is a slight increase to their taxes, but it’s a huge investment in our kids,” said Burleson.

Property owners can visit Bond – Bay St Louis Waveland School District to use the district’s property tax estimated increase search to view how much this proposed bond could impact their taxes.

Voters will decide on the proposal during the Nov. 3 general election.