SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- The Salem-Keizer School District has a unique challenge in these times of fiscal austerity.
District officials are asking residents how to spend $66 million in leftover bond funds. But the surplus cash is debt, so the district can't use it for operating costs like adding teachers.
The Statesman Journal reports (http://stjr.nl/NddrD7 ) that the proposals include sending money back to taxpayers, paying for additional school repairs or funding new projects such as a technical high school. New projects would require approval from voters.
Construction of four schools and repairs at dozens of others came in 21 percent below budget after the costs of land, labor and materials plummeted during the Great Recession. That left a surplus on the $242 million bond that voters approved in 2008 to pay for the work.
