need and opportunity.......my response

NEED AND OPPORTUNITY….NEW SCHOOLS IN A BAD ECONOMY

One of the loudest statement's I've heard from those opposing the Board of Education plan to build new schools is that the economy is bad, people are out of work or had their hours cut back, or businesses are closing down, or...the list goes on and on. As true as all of these comments are, the fact remains we have a "need" for new buildings. Not only are these buildings costing more to maintain, but the need for safe schools over the past 50 years have changed for the worse. In addition, technology has advanced far beyond what we are capable of providing for children in order to compete for college and the job market.

When I hear the arguments concerning the economy, I am drawn to a "needs" and "opportunity" scenario. Basically, this is the entire argument for placing the bond issue for new schools. It is a matter of "need" and "opportunity". We've always had the "need", but the "opportunity" was never prevalent due to the economy and other factors. Today, we also have the "opportunity". This "opportunity" allows us to have new schools without bearing the total cost for them.

Back in the late 90’s the board began looking at the Ohio School Facilities Commission program that was providing large percentage of funding for districts to build new facilities. At that time, we were way down the list for being considered for our share of the funding. Also, at the time, we were having difficulty with four of our buildings needing major repair on roofs, plumbing, electrical and other maintenance issues. We finally passed a 4 year Permanent Improvement Levy for 4 mills in March 2000after the Clark County Combined Health District intervened telling us the possibility of closing Northridge school. The roofs were replaced and other maintenance problems were completed. These repairs were only band aids to the real need for new schools. Still the need was there.

In 2001 we looked at ways to utilize the benefit of the OSFC funding opportunity and found that we could get credit towards new school construction if we were to build new buildings before our time for consideration. The board placed a 3.9 mill bond issue for the construction of two new middle schools,upon which time the opportunity came for the OSFC funds, we would receive credit from the OSFC toward a portion of what had already been spent on the new buildings. However, this bond issue was rejected five times and the sixth time was withdrawn.

In 2006 we were advised that our opportunity with the OSFC was coming due. There were assessments done on our buildings and plans were drawn up. One of the requirements by the OSFC is that the district had to have a .5 mill Continuous Permanent Improvement Levy on the books before any funding would be awarded. Realizing the difficulty this district has in getting levies passed, we place a 1 mill Continuous Permanent Improvement Levy on the ballot, part of which was the .5 mill requirement and another .5 mill to help with the current and continuing maintenance issues our old buildings were having. Remember, the 4 mill Permanent Improvement Levy passed in 2000 was only for 4 years and had ended in 2004.

This 1 mill Continuous Permanent Improvement Levy took five ballots before finally passing in November 2008! Upon passage, we were able and eligible to seek a sharing of funding from the OSFC for the construction of new schools and the remodeling of other buildings. By this time, the OSFC had re-evaluated our buildings. They determined that the cost of remodeling certain buildings was more than the threshold of 2/3 the cost of rebuilding new schools. As a result, the original plans for construction and remodeling our buildings had been narrowed to total construction of new buildings.

So where does the “need” and “opportunity” come in? Simply this, the "need" has been around for many years, however, "opportunity" was never available because of many factors such as the economy, people’s preferences to what should be rebuilt or remodeled, one side blaming the other, one side thinking the other gets more, and the list goes on. The board attempted to discuss the need but the interest for new schools was not there.

I’m certain that if the opportunity from the OSFC had not come along, the board would not have place a bond issue for new schools. The board would have given consideration to continuing to provide maintenance of our existing buildings, or if the situation came up that we had to close down one or more buildings we would have considered other alternatives.

This is where the “opportunity” comes in. We have had the “need” for many years; we did not have the “opportunity”. Today we have the "opportunity" to do what is best for our kids, our district, our economy and our future. We, as residents, can live in the past and continue to be fearful of where we are while maintaining our current situation. Or we can look ahead and see what is possible. What is possible is the “opportunity” of someone, the OSFC, in providing 41% or $46.8 million dollars toward new schools. This "opportunity" along with our "need" will allow us to work toward a better and more secure education for our children, stimulate our economy, improve our property values, bring new pride to our district and recreate that once proud feeling of being part of the Northeastern Local School District. We can think of ourselves or we can consider our future.