December 15, 2022

Republic School District employees and families,

We are writing to provide exciting updates regarding the future of our district! This week, our district leaders and Board of Education took steps to accommodate the growth we have seen and anticipate to continue over the next several years. 

As you are likely well aware, the City of Republic is experiencing unprecedented growth. Our business community is expanding, bringing more and more families to our area, which requires more housing. Republic is currently on pace to see an addition of approximately 1,100 single family homes and 2,220 multi-family homes in the next 3-5 years. Therefore, our school district is expected to grow by approximately 1,000 new students during that time frame.

While we are thrilled to welcome more families and students into our district, we need the space to adequately care for them and their education. We have been planning for this growth for many years and we are starting to see those plans being put into motion. 

Early Childhood, Elementary Space, Land Purchase

In April 2021, our community supported a no tax levy increase bond issue, which provided us the opportunity to build the new Early Childhood building – freeing up classroom spaces in many of our elementaries – as well as begin the purchase of land for future buildings. We’re excited to share that we have found a great piece of property near the City of Republic’s Parks and Recreation expansion that we officially purchased this week! This 78-acre tract will allow us to plan for and accommodate continued growth into the future. 

New Building

In gathering feedback from stakeholders, there is a strong consensus for the district to build a 5th and 6th grade center on our newly acquired land. This would be a building in which every 5th and 6th grade student from across the district would attend. This building would offer a variety of benefits for our students and our district, including the following: 

• It would allow us to remove approximately 400 students from the Republic Middle School AND about 80-100 students from each elementary building.
• A 5th and 6th grade center would help us accommodate student growth while still maintaining our goals for small class sizes. 
• In addition, adding this building would provide our 5th and 6th grade students a more gentle transition to middle school with age-appropriate programming and curriculum. 

To build this new 5th and 6th grade center, we would need the community’s support in passing a no tax levy increase bond issue on Election Day in April 2023. At its meeting tonight, the Board of Education approved the language voters will see on the ballot. It’s important to note, this would NOT increase taxes, but extend the current rate. We'll be sharing more about the potential 5th and 6th grade center in early 2023.

The $47 million no tax levy increase bond issue would fully fund the potential 5th and 6th grade center. Other projects could possibly be included if funds allow. In January, we will be sending out a survey regarding other potential future facilities, as well as calendar preferences for next school year. We thank you in advance for your feedback regarding these important matters!

We are so excited for what’s to come. We look forward to providing more opportunities for our students, staff and families as we move into this next phase of development. We can’t wait to engage and celebrate with you along the way! 

Thank you for your continued support of the Republic School District! 

Sincerely,

Nikki Faith

District Communications Specialist

Republic School District