AUSTINTOWN School board passes resolution on placing bond issue on ballot

The superintendent said organizers will try to figure out what went wrong the last time.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- A bond issue that failed by 17 votes in November most likely will be placed on the May ballot by the Austintown school board.
The board of education passed a resolution Monday stating that it is necessary to place a bond issue worth $32 million on the primary election ballot. No length or millage was included in the resolution.
The board still has to pass a resolution declaring their intention to proceed with the bond issue. That resolution, which most likely will be approved at a board meeting Jan. 14, would allow the Mahoning County Board of Elections to include the bond issue on the May ballot.
If the bond issue is approved, the board would borrow $32 million to pay for the renovation of Frank Ohl Middle School and the construction of a new junior high school. The new junior high school would replace Austintown Middle School, which was built in 1916 and is in need of repair.
A 26-year, 3.9-mill bond issue that would have allowed the board to pay for the renovations and the construction of the new school failed by a margin of 17 votes in November's general election.
Learning from past: Superintendent Richard Denamen said he expects some of the township residents who organized that bond campaign to meet in January and discuss why the issue failed.
The organizers will use the lessons learned from the November campaign to develop a strategy to pass the bond issue in May, Denamen said. He said that, for example, the campaign organizers most likely will try to find a way to convince absentee voters not to cast ballots against the issue.
Absentee ballots are the first ballots counted by the board of elections on election night. When the ballots were counted on election night in November, the bond issue was found to be failing by about 100 votes.
"From there, it was catch-up," Denamen said.
Board members also approved a resolution stating that they will increase their salaries from $80 per meeting to $125 per meeting if given the opportunity by the state Legislature. The Legislature is thinking about allowing school board members to increase the meeting stipend.
School board members have been receiving $80 per meeting for the last few decades, Denamen said.
hill@vindy.com