The Ames School Board approved plans last week to build a new high school and to relocate the middle school to the existing high-school facility. The voters of Story County will now decide how the $50.9 million project will be funded. A county-wide vote on Oct. 10 will decide the fate of a 1-cent local option sales tax, which would raise county sales taxes from 6 to 7 cents per dollar of taxable sales. A similar vote failed last February by 39 votes, but school officials said an expanded local campaign is underway to increase support. “More information will be forthcoming about the projects the school district has on track,” said John Kinley, principal of Ames Middle School. In addition, a bond referendum will be presented to the voters in Ames to fund the rest of the project, Kinley said. Door-to-door and telephone campaigns have been added to the effort to rally support, said W. Ray Richardson, deputy superintendent for the district. “There will be a lot of grass root efforts taking place,” he said. The new high-school facilities will be constructed on 123 acres of land on Mortensen Road. The district purchased the land from Iowa State in July for about $3.1 million. Pending the results of the sales tax option and bond votes, the building will take about two years to complete, he said. The new building and shift in schools is expected to ease the overcrowding issue that the district has faced for years, Kinley said. The middle school, which currently has 760 enrolled students, was built for 600 students. The high school, with more than 1,600 enrollment, was built to accommodate 1,200 students. The high school will be equipped with better technology to enhance learning opportunities for the students, Richardson said. “It will provide a 21st century environment to put our students in a position to be academically sound,” he said. New athletic facilities including a football field, track, six-lane swimming pool and baseball and softball diamonds are unofficially planned for the new high school, Richardson said. However, the costs and plans will not be completed until voters decide they want to put up the funding. “Financially, it will be up to the community to determine when the athletic facilities would be started,” he said. These facilities are an important aspect of the quality of education for students, Richardson said. “I think Ames has an opportunity to put forth some secondary educational programs and facilities that will set this community apart from most districts,” he said.