Oberlin Schools seeks levy for new building

The Oberlin City Schools Board of Education is asking voters to approve an additional levy on the Nov. 6 general election ballot to build a new all-in-one building.

Oberlin Schools is seeking a 37-year, 4.80-mill levy additional levy that would cost $168 annually per $100,000 of property valuation, according to the Lorain County auditor.

The building is being done in two phases over six years.

The first phase would begin with the passage of the 4.8 mill bond issue which would generate $17.8 million.

The funds would pay for construction of the pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade school, Oberlin Schools officials said.

As part of the board’s attempt to cut down on the financial impact of the levy, if this issue passes, the board intends not to collect 1 mill of a current permanent improvement tax levy which will take effect January 2019, officials said.

That would reduce the cost by $35 a year, thy said.

If the bond is approved in November, it will take a year for the new elementary school to be designed and the building could be occupied by 2022, officials said.

An additional levy to fund the sixth- through 12th-grade portion of the building would be voted on in 2022.

Jim Eibel, the principal of two schools which would be absorbed into the new pre-kindergarten to fifth-grade facility, has said that the combination of schools would streamline the process.

“The possibility of joining elementary staffs into one is exciting,” Eibel said. “It is difficult to have daily collaboration on pre-kindergarten through five elementary curriculum in two different locations.”