Forum to focus on school funding
— Voters WEST CARROLLTON in the West Carrollton school district with questions about a bond issue on the November ballot have a chance tonight to seek answers on local and state funding.
The district is holding a community forum at 6:30 p.m. at West Carrollton High School on Issue 11. It is a 5.6mill, 37-year bond issue to help fund construction of new schools, which West Carrollton has not seen in 50 years.
The district — which includes parts of Miami Twp. and Moraine — has been accepted into the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission building program.
Passage of the property tax hike would allow the community to take advantage of a program in which the state will provide 81% of the costs of all co-funded construction of new buildings in the district, local officials said.
Co-funded projects would include classroom and cafeteria space, gymnasiums and playgrounds, according to the school district.
Locally-funded work — in which West Carrollton would pay 100% — would Passage of Issue 11 would allow the district to go forward with a plan that includes:
■ A pre-kindergarten to first grade building and one housing students in grades two through four on the current sites of Early Childhood Center and West Carrollton Middle School.
■ A building housing fifth- and sixth-graders on the current site of Holliday Elementary.
■ A campus housing seventh-graders through seniors on the current sites of Schnell Elementary and West Carrollton High School. involve auditoriums, athletic facilities, extra square footage and building upgrades, records show.
The new school plan has been projected to cost between $125 million and $140 million, district officials have said.
Passage of the bond issue would generate about $44 million as officials look to replace school buildings that have an average age of 67 years.
The bond issue will cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 about $199 more a year and about $149 a year for those eligible for the homestead exemption, according to the district.
The forum is expected to include a presentation of what buildings could look like, a picture of state funding and a Q&A session.