PERRYSBURG – The school district will address overcrowding in its elementaries by asking its taxpayers to support a bond issue that will cost 41% less that what was requested in November.
At Monday’s board of education meeting, members agreed to a resolution of necessity and placed 36-year, 3.50-mill issue on the March 19 primary election ballot.
Board member Kelly Ewbank voted against the plan.
The bond issue will raise $88 million, considerably less than the $140 million request that failed at the polls in November. The millage for that issue was 5.95.
The March issue will only address the elementary portion of the district’s plan for facilities. Overcrowding at the high school and safety issues at Steinecker Stadium will not be addressed.
It will affect the greatest number of schools, benefit nearly 2,000 students, and address safety concerns by eliminating the use of portable classrooms, said Superintendent Tom Hosler.
“We understand that not acting, this conversation will need to come back in the future because the needs have not changed,” he said.
Without passage, the district will need to purchase 40 additional portable classrooms between now and 2040, he said.
“The cost of doing nothing is very expensive,” said board member Sue Larimer.
The district has estimated it will cost $35,169,617 for a new 800-student elementary to be built between Hull Prairie Intermediate School and the high school.
Another $25,163,914 is needed for additions at Fort Meigs, Toth and Woodland elementaries and $26,544,544 for infrastructure improvements at those three schools.
The total of all improvements is $86,878,075.
Ewbank repeated what she said at a special meeting last week, that she preferred the idea of building two elementary schools.
“While I agree with the need to do something, I’m unsure of the current plan,” she said.
She said it is cheaper to build two new elementary schools and she would rather see additions to the high school than the elementaries.
“At the end of the day, you’re just still adding on to something old,” she said. “You can take that money and build something brand new.”
Hosler said he understood Ewbank’s comments as “we don’t want to invest in the older buildings because they’re past their prime.”
The cost to build two new elementary schools has been estimated at $68,969,769.
“At the end of the day, what is going to get you more bang for the buck,” Ewbank said.
The committee made recommendations on the footprint of our elementary schools after more than a year of research, board member Ray Pohlman.
“It makes more sense to me, and other people who brought this to my attention … it’s just an option that I’m sharing. I’m explaining what I see and other have shared would be more beneficial,” Ewbank said.
There was little to no negative feedback about the need for a new elementary school or the need for additional elementary classroom space, Hosler said.
To remove the trailers at all three elementaries and meet the demand anticipated in 2040, the district needs new space for 1,310 more students.
Enrollment at Woodland Elementary this fall was 595 (350 capacity). At Fort Meigs Elementary, it was 569 (capacity 475).
The new elementary will replace Frank Elementary, which has 481 students (400 capacity). Frank will be used for the preschool program which is currently held in Maumee.
While Toth Elementary is not at capacity, the students from Frank will have to be distributed somewhere, likely Toth, Hosler said.
In addition to the 28 classrooms added with the new elementary, the plan includes the addition of 18 classrooms at Woodland, 10 classrooms at Fort Meigs, nine at Toth.
The cost of the issue is $25.52 per month, or $306.24 per year, for a home valued at $250,000.
Inflation and record-setting home reappraisals made for terrible timing for the November request, Hosler said.
“There was a lot of questions about tax rates and home values,” he said.
Board member Lori Reffert said she went to the Wood County Auditor’s website and learned her new taxes.
“People were unsure what the reevaluation of their taxes would be,” she said, and urged district taxpayers to visit the county website.
There also was little or no negative feedback about the need for additional classroom space at the high school, Hosler said.
That project, which would have added 36 classrooms and cost $32,502,774, has been placed on hold.
Hosler said there were some suggestions to covert the existing high school into a junior high. He said the cost of a new high school with athletic complex was $196,433,612.
District Treasurer Randy Drewyor pointed out the anticipated reduction in the cost to taxpayers as the bond issue ages.
As an example, the original ballot language for the Hull Prairie Intermediate School in 2014 was for 2.94 mills, costing the owner of a $250,000 home $21.46 per month.
In 2022, the monthly cost of this issue had dropped to $10.94 per month.
If passed in March, funds for the 3.5-mill bond issue will not be collected until 2025. In the meantime, a 1.62-mill levy for the high school will expire in December 2024, with the final collection in 2025.
“So, there is one year of additional millage but then falls to a net of 1.88,” said board President Eric Benington.
At last week’s special meeting, the board discussed asking for $68 million. The additional $20 million will be generated by a permanent improvement levy that is built into the 3.5 mills and will be used pay for the expansion of the elementary schools, Hosler said.
The district will receive 30% reimbursement from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission for the project.
