High school students cram three to a seat in buses, hold tight to their Chromebooks and pop their tires in potholes in the school parking lot. Soon, a proposal to upgrade many parts of the school district will provide renovations to areas where students encounter these problems and more. On November 3, an election will determine the result of the bond.

“The buses are cramped,” freshman Taylor Crockett said. “I don’t think it’s okay. There’s three kids to a seat for some.”

Part of the issue that the bond hopes to solve is busing. However, to pay for these renovations, the taxes for Stockbridge area residents would be raised.

Over the course of 20 years and 3 months, to raise nearly $20 million for Stockbridge schools, the average Stockbridge homeowner would pay less than $100 a year. This means a $100,000 home would have a tax increase of $7 a month, which equals to $85 a year.

The taxes collected would be used to upgrade portions of each school throughout the district that requires updates such as technology, classrooms and the library at the high school.

“The science classrooms need updating,” junior Poppy Cox said, “with all the labs, all of our outdated equipment, it’s crazy.”

If passed, the bond would include district-wide technology upgrades, additions to include new high school science classrooms and a gymnasium at the high school to accommodate a new grade configuration for creating a junior/senior high according to the bond information guide provided by the Stockbridge Community School’s website.

Also targeted is remodeling of high school career and technical education, bathrooms, lockers, new ceilings, stage updates and safety improvements including secured entrances at all three buildings and bleachers/lights at stadium, energy efficient mechanical and electrical upgrades, site work which includes improvements in parking and purchasing additional buses.

“It’s going to make the school look more futuristic,” senior Cesar Rodriguez said, “instead of the old school that’s falling apart.”

According to the Bond Categories on the school’s website, 13.8 percent of the funding would be dedicated to technology upgrades that would keep the school up to date.

“I think the technology upgrades are the most important aspect of the bond,” principal Richard Cook said. “The grant for chromebooks is just supposed to get us started, and the bond will be the way we sustain it.”

Because the bond election can be voted on by any Stockbridge resident, it is a purely mass vote.

“It’s good for the students,” board of education trustee Garrick Rochow said, “It’s focusing on curriculum and education, and it’s strengthening the district.”