McAlester Voters To Decide On $35M Bond For New School, Event Center

Voters will decide Tuesday whether to approve a nearly $35 million bond issue for McAlester Public Schools. The money would be used to build a new middle school and event center.

McAlester Public Schools hopes to put the new building right next to the current high school. The new 25-classroom middle school would have science labs, a STEM room, and several safe rooms. It would be connected to an event center with over 1,800 seats for sports and other events as well as rooms for band and choir.

In a series of videos posted on the McAlester Public Schools website, superintendent Randy Hughes said the district is overdue for these improvements.

"Our current facility was built in 1947. It is the oldest acting primary gymnasium in the state. It holds under 900 people and honestly it's time for an upgrade," Hughes said.

He said all this can be done without further burdening taxpayers.

“It's time to move forward. We have this opportunity at this time to do all of this without increasing your taxes," Hughes said.

The district said the bond issue would extend the current tax rate of 13.25 mills that voters already approved for other bond issues. They said the rate would be extended for another 20 years.

"We understand that 20 years is a long time but now it's time to act," said Hughes.

Hughes said the new buildings would bring huge improvements. He said a new event center wouldn't be just a better facility for sports but could be used to host all sorts of events.

"We would be able to host area and regional competitions that we cannot do at this time, which would bring people into our community who would visit our restaurants, our shops, and our hotels," Hughes said.

The new building would also allow the district to repurpose and consolidate other school buildings. The district said if the bond passes, the new middle school and event center could be finished in about two years.