ST. LOUIS  • City voters will consider on Tuesday a $155 million bond issue that would tackle some of the dilapidated building conditions in St. Louis Public Schools.

Proposition S promises to take care of about half of the needs in the district's 74 schools, officials say. It would pay to upgrade restrooms and science labs, replace roofs, remove lead paint and install wiring for computers. Other improvements include replacing kitchen cafeteria equipment — some of which is 60 years old — and upgrading prekindergarten classrooms.

"Facilities say a great deal about what people think about an institution," Superintendent Kelvin Adams said. The bond issue, he added, 'says something about how this community feels about public education and the kids."

Supporters say it's the most critical ballot measure the district has had in decades. The average age of a city school is 72 years. The facilities don't encourage learning, they say.

"I don't know how you energize students when the paint is peeling off the walls, and water is on the floor and the heater doesn't work," said Sharon Turner, campaign co-chair.

The bond measure would not result in a tax increase, However, taxpayers would pay the levy longer if the bond is approved. The district would retire its bonds in 2025, rather than 2018.

Federal subsidies relating to public construction projects would make the new bonds almost interest-free, supporters said.

The measure needs 57.1 percent of the vote to pass.

"That makes it somewhat of a challenge," said Charlene Jones, campaign manager.

Earlier in the week, Mayor Francis Slay sent mailers endorsing the measure. On Wednesday, the elected School Board voted to oppose it.

In 2007, when the district lost its accreditation, the state stripped the elected board of its power and replaced it with a three-member administrative board. The elected board continues to meet once a month, even though it has no control over the district.

The priority shouldn't be buildings, said Donna Jones, vice president of the elected board.

"We would think the more important priority would be staffing and hiring our teachers back," she said.

If the measure passes, the administrative board is considering an oversight panel to ensure the money is spent correctly. The public must see that repairs are being made, said Richard Gaines, an administrative board member.

In 2007, Gaines and his fellow board members learned that millions of dollars from a previous bond issue were sitting in the bank, having never been spent to install air conditioning in schools. The administrative board got the project moving again.

But the image problem persists, Gaines said.

"We're having to do additional work to assure the public that, if they give us the confidence to pass this bond issue, we will do the work that this bond says will be done," he added.