The Crook County School District is moving forward with plans to put a bond on the ballot in May 2013 that would pay for a new school and facilities improvements throughout the district.

There’s still plenty of work ahead, like selecting a site for the new school and calculating a final dollar amount for the bond.

But the school board voted unanimously Nov. 19 in support of moving forward with a bond.

Preliminary estimates put the bond amount at about $31.5 million, though that could change before it goes to a vote. Of that amount, about $18 million would go to a new elementary school that would replace Ochoco and Crooked River Elementary schools in Prineville, said district Superintendent Duane Yecha. The remainder would go toward facilities improvements in other schools.

The timing for the bond proposal is ideal, said board Chairwoman Patti Norris.

“This is our first bond in 20 years and our previous bond, which was used to build the high school, is expiring,” she said.

That bond, on which property owners pay about $1 per $1,000 of assessed value, matures in 2014. The goal is to put a new bond proposal out with a rate as close as possible to that of the expiring bond.

The final rate of the proposal isn’t yet determined and will depend on the assessed property values, Norris said.

“The goal will be to size the bond so it builds the project we need and doesn’t result in a significant increase in the tax rate,” she said.

Before making the decision, the school district took steps to plan for a bond and gauge voter sentiment.

A survey earlier this year of 380 registered voters in the district found a majority — 60 percent — were in favor of a bond proposal. Another 28 percent opposed it and 12 percent were uncertain, according to the survey results.