DISTRICTS

school districts in central Ohio — Dublin, Grandview Heights, SouthWestern, Whitehall and Worthington — all hope voters will approve tax- levy proposals on Nov. 6 so they can start tackling them.

Although the National Center for Education Statistics says Ohio's public school enrollment is expected to decline significantly in the next six years, local school officials say the timing is right because central Ohio seems to be an outlier to the statewide trend. In fact, population growth in central Ohio is contributing to an enrollment boom for many suburban districts — and officials say they need to update and expand their infrastructure to prepare.

"It's a great problem to have, but it still creates challenges," Worthington Superintendent Trent Bowers said.

The deadline to register to vote is Tuesday. Early voting begins Wednesday. To check registration status or find a polling location, go to voterlookup. sos. state. oh. us. This partition was put into place last year to create another classroom at Etna Road Elementary School, where Jane Moran, an English as a second language teacher, instructs third-graders. In Whitehall, buildings are so overcrowded that small offices and workrooms also are used as classrooms.

would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $ 207 a year.

The district of about 16,000 students added 2,700 students in the past 10 years and expects 3,000 more in the next 10 years, Superintendent Todd Hoadley said.

Officials are shuffling classes between buildings and setting up portable classroom trailers to accommodate students, but it's not enough, he said.

"We are really feeling extreme enrollment pressure right now," Hoadley said.

disabilities.

The issue is combined with a permanent, 1-mill operating levy that would generate $392,000 a year.

The entire tax issue would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $239 a year.

At least two political action committees against the proposal have organized. Both oppose the amount and timing of the issue, as well as the district combining the two tax issues, committee leaders said.

Recently, city officials expressed support for expanding the Grandview Yard development and said they plan to renegotiate its tax agreements with developers and school officials. That could increase the amount of taxes the district receives. It could reduce the building project's cost to residents by as much as 50 percent, but it wouldn't fund the entire thing, Culp said.

Those against the levy said it makes the proposal's timing awkward.

"This is the wrong plan at the wrong time," said resident Tracy Kessler, one committee's treasurer.

South-Western's proposed school bond issue is that the price is right, Superintendent Bill Wise said.

The 38-year, $93.4 million bond issue wouldn't increase tax bills beyond what residents currently pay because another bond issue is set to expire. The cost is about $65 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home.

The district is already in the middle of an expansive building project, assisted by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, a state agency that helps districts with construction projects. This latest proposal would pay for its second phase. The entire second phase will cost about $193 million, but the commission is paying for half of it.

The new funds would replace the district's four oldest middle schools (Brookpark, Pleasant View, Finland and Norton), renovate Jackson Middle School and renovate and reopen the vacant East Franklin Elementary School building to address increased enrollment.

In the past three years or so, the district of about 22,000 students has added about 1,200, Wise said.

Whitehall schools have received assistance from the facilities construction commission, but that has come with some challenges. The district's buildings are relatively new, built in 2008.

But the state's enrollment projections, which were used to determine the size of the buildings, didn't match the district's extraordinary growth. The buildings are now too crowded — so much so that the state has agreed to revisit the district and pay for 61 percent of what it will cost to address the overcrowding.

If a district receives commission funding, it can't again for 20 years, according to state law, but exceptions can be made for large, unexpected enrollment spikes, commission spokesman Rick Savors said.

Whitehall's enrollment has increased by 20 percent, or by about 600 students, since 2008, Superintendent Brian Hamler said. Its buildings are over capacity by about that much. Some students are learning in storage rooms because there isn't enough classroom space, he said.

"This isn't something

Worthington sixthgraders would move into renovated middle schools, freeing up space in overcrowded elementary schools if district voters approve a 30- year, $ 89 million bond issue.

Currently, the district is using classroom trailers and renting space in the Peggy R. McConnell Performing Arts Center to accommodate students, Bowers said.

The bond issue would be used to renovate Worthingway, reopen and renovate Perry and modify McCord and Kilbourne middle schools, he said.

It would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $90 a year.

The district is also asking for a permanent operating levy that would start at 2.9 mills and increase by 2 mills for each of the next three years. Each mill would collect about $ 2 million. The first year would cost that same homeowner $102 a year, increasing by 2021 to $ 311 a year.

The two issues can't be combined and are listed separately on the ballot.

The district of about 10,000 students has grown by some 1,200 since 2012, Bowers said.