Bartholomew Consolidated Schools will be going out to bid on a series of contracts to make an estimated $12 million in improvements to many of the community’s schools.

The school board voted last night to seek bids on the projects, divided up into chunks of about $2 million each over several phases, says Superintendent Jim Roberts.

Only about $6.7 million dollars would be paid by property taxes. But the projects should have a negligible impact on taxpayers, Roberts says.

The remaining projects would be paid for out of a combination of savings from previous projects and an interest refunding program for special bonds the district issued, Roberts says.

All told the district is planning about $12 million in projects. Some of those could start as early as May.