Pittsburgh voters approved a $31 million bond issue on Tuesday to improve school safety and make renovations at school buildings in the city.
The 20-year bond issue includes funding for the construction of “safe rooms” in elementary and middle schools and various entryway renovations in the Pittsburgh School District, according to The Joplin Globe.
“We set out with the goal of listening to our community, and we put a package together that we heard from our community that they thought they could support,” PSD Superintendent Destry Brown said. “If it wasn’t for the community being involved in that, it never would have happened.”
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The safe rooms will be built in all four of the district’s elementary schools, Pittsburgh Community Middle School, Pittsburgh High School and the Family Resource Center. The rooms will be built to Federal Emergency Management Agency standards and double as kitchen space or weight rooms.
Major renovations will also improve front entrances, create new administrative offices and remodel classrooms in the buildings.
More than 70 percent of people voted “yes” on the proposal, which will raise the district’s tax rate by $1 million.
The proposal was a smaller version of a $67 million school safety measure proposed last year.
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