Northeastern Local School District, Ohio, voters will go back to the polls May 8 to decide whether taxpayers are willing to support $119 million in new schools in the district.
The district is asking voters to approve a 37-year, $79 million bond issue that would build two pre-k-through-12th-grade buildings in the district. One building would be constructed on the Kenton Ridge side of the district and the other would be built on the Northeastern side.
The state will contribute about $40 million to the project if voters pass the bond issue. Passage of the bond would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $295 a year.
The district failed to pass a similar bond issue in November 2017 by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin, according to data from the Clark County Election Board.
"As a community, we have to support our kids," Northeastern Superintendent John Kronour said. "We wouldn't be out there asking for new facilities if it wasn't necessary."
The Springfield News-Sun spoke with several voters who plan to vote against the issues, but all them declined to give their names. They said they plan to vote no for reasons including the property tax increases or a preference the district build one high school instead of two.
Residents pushing for the passage of the bond believe this time around will be different, Northeastern parent Chrisdee Rastatter said.
"People are standing together, both Kenton Ridge and Northeastern because they want to see this pass," she said. "We have a lot of community coming together."
The district is the second-largest district in Clark County. It serves about 3,300 students, according to the Ohio Department of Education.
The case for new schools
Northeastern Local is one of the last districts in Clark County to get new schools.
All Clark County districts except Northeastern and Southeastern have either built new schools since 2000 or have recently passed a bond issue to build new schools.
"The conditions of our buildings is a reason to vote in May," Kronour said. "Not having enough electrical outlets, safety concerns that we know that we can do better with new buildings, HVAC and to be able to have better temperature control in our buildings. These are things that we tried to manage but are becoming more and more difficult with the age of the facilities."
One of the toughest challenges the school faces is leaky roofs, Kronour said. The buildings were built with flat roofs and water can sit and cause damage.
"We did quite a bit of roofing over the course of the last three years," he said. "We spent over $500,000 on roofs. We could spend that much more. So we are continuing to take care of our facilities."
A major concern with the current building is safety, Rastatter said.
"With the dangers that we are facing in our society now, we need to know our kids are safe," she said. "When you walk into our buildings you are not greeted by staff. It can be easy to get in our building. We need to have buildings where there is the first line of defense and a first greeting when people walk in."
The current schools are holding back students, School Board President Jill Paker said.
"They will not continue to support our one-to-one initiatives to get technology to every student in the district," she said, "They always need repairs that are costly and a temporary fix at best."
Kronour said he is willing to talk with anyone who might have questions about the bond issue. He can be reached at johnkronour@nelsd.org, or by calling 937-325-7615.
One high school vs. two high schools
The Springfield News-Sun reached out to people who expressed disapproval of the bond issue on social media and also took phone calls from those who planned to vote against it . However, no one who planned to vote no wished to be named.
One of their main concerns was the plan to build two high schools instead of consolidating the district into one high school.
The district held community forums and conducted a scientific survey to find out whether residents preferred to consolidate the high schools or to keep the two high school district. In virtually all cases, the outcome showed that residents were split down the middle.
However, even a Northeastern school board member made it known that he believed the one high school option was best for the district. Dr. John Crankshaw said during a school board meeting in January that he voted against putting the bond issue on the ballot because he preferred the one high school option.
"I do believe we need new buildings, I do believe that," Crankshaw said. "I just believe that this current plan is the wrong plan for the district.
"I am in favor of the one high school plan. It puts us in the strongest position long-term to succeed both academically for our students and to stay financially healthy for our community."
What if the bond fails?
The Northeastern Local School district has decided that if the school bond fails, it will make major changes to the district.
The district said it would close Rolling Hills Elementary School, utilize South Vienna and Northridge as preschool through fifth-grade elementary buildings, send all sixth-grade through eighth-grade students to what is now Kenton Ridge High School and send all high school students to Northeastern High School.
The reason behind these moves is cost, the school board said. The consolidation plan is estimated to save about $1 million each year that will be used to help pay for repairs at the open buildings, the release says.
When asked, a "no" voter said she approves of the school's consolidation plan because it saves money and she liked the idea of being a one high school district.
However, when the plan was announced, many people said they did not like the idea and hoped the bond issue will pass.
Making the decision to implement the contingency plan was tough, Parker said.
"Even after months of discussion and debate, this was still a very difficult decision for the board to have to make," Parker said. "We can only hope now that circumstances will change and this plan will never need to be implemented."
There will be a pep rally today at the reservoir beach parking lot starting at 2 p.m. There will be music, snacks, drinks and entertainment, according to a flyer. Also, there will be a "feet on the street" event at which volunteers will go door-to-door to alert residents of the election.
The last election was close, said Amanda Foulk, who has two kids in the district, and it will likely be close again.
"I feel really optimistic about this levy, there's a lot of involvement," Foulk said. "There's a lot of community dedication and so I am really excited for May 8."
