Courtesy Photo A group of Hillman elementary students chat among themselves while in school in this undated photo provided by the school. Hillman Community Schools will ask voters in the district to OK the sale of $22.1 million in bonds to use for major projects in the school system. The proposal will appear on the ballot on May 3.

HILLMAN — Voters in Hillman Community Schools will vote on May 3 on a proposed $22.1 million bond sale to cover the cost of building and infrastructure improvements throughout the district.

Taxpayers would repay the bonds over the next 30 years through an estimated 3.38-mill tax that would cost the owner of a $100,000 house about $169 a year. Voters will approve the sale of bonds, however, not the tax rate, which can fluctuate based on the yearly debt payment due and the total taxable value in the district.

Taxpayers are still paying off old Hillman school debt, but the last tax collection for that debt — expected at 2.52 mills, or $126 for the owner of a $100,000 house — should happen this year.

Property owners in the district also pay a 1-mill tax — or about $50 a year for the owner of a $100,000 house — for facility and technology upgrades, though that tax does not raise enough money upfront for the kind of large-scale projects the district hopes to undertake with the bond sale.

Interim Hillman Superintendent Pam Rader said the district would use the money from the bond sale to add an addition to Hillman Junior-Senior High School to bring elementary school students on to one K-12 campus.

The district would also make security improvements for the campus, expand the gym, and add a performance stage.

Rader said that, first and foremost, the district needs the money to improve facility security, which she said would help students, staff, and visitors stay safe. She said the current elementary, which is more than 60 years old, lacks security.

To bring the old elementary school up to today’s standard would cost more than $18 million, and that wouldn’t be enough to fix all the issues, Rader said. She called adding on to the high school the reasonable thing to do, and said doing so could help save money in the years to come.

“The old facility needs new doors, windows and those types of things, and that $18 million doesn’t even address the interior at all,” she said. “We just thought it would be fiscally responsible to have K-12 and create one district campus.”

Other security improvements would include a secure entry for the entire student body and staff, security film for all windows, and the installation of new lighting for the parking and drop-off areas.

The new addition to the high school would span 39,740 square feet and include an afterschool program area, media commons, and technology for elementary students.

The new elementary school would provide learning spaces for modern practices such as small group and individual support. Those teaching styles will better prepare students for the future of technology, collaboration, and hands-on learning, Rader said, which she said will help the students receive the best education possible.

“The classrooms are not structured for the type of learning we do now, and we are lucky to even have two outlets in a classroom,” Rader said. “The new wing will allow us to provide a better learning environment where teachers can work with smaller groups and not just in the classroom.”

Rader said the Hillman Board of Education chose to put the proposal on the ballot in May because, the sooner the matter is decided, the quicker the school system can move forward in one direction or another.

“Every day that we aren’t moving forward is another day our students don’t have what they need,” she said.

Rader said it seems like a majority of the people in the district support the proposal, but it won’t be known for sure until the votes are counted. She said she wanted to remind people that the investment is for all the kids, not just the younger ones in elementary school.

“We know the Hillman community believes in itself and our students,” Rader said. “We are preparing them to be able to compete globally for careers that we may not have even heard of yet. We want to give them the tools they need to be able to succeed and complete.”