Districts plan for buildings, strategy

Voters in the Beaver school district may see a levy on the November ballot.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- With voter approval of their school district's funding requests, Lisbon and East Liverpool school officials are planning building additions.
At Columbiana and Beaver schools, where levies failed, board members and administrators are planning their strategies for the next round.
Although voters in Columbiana defeated a permanent improvement levy in February and May, the board opted to place the identical 1.6-mill levy on the Aug. 6 special election ballot.
Board members said they didn't want to try for a lesser amount because the need for funding has not diminished, particularly with extensive roof repairs needed during the summer at Joshua Dixon Elementary and South Side Middle School.
School officials said they need to do more to inform voters about the levy and how the funds will be used. They said some voters, for example, said they would not give the district money to pay for athletic fields.
A new soccer field and track now under construction are being paid from the sale of the old high school and a contract with Coca Cola.
Beaver school district voters may see a levy on the ballot as soon as November, Superintendent Willard Adkins said.
Voters defeated the district's request for a five-year permanent improvement levy.
He said the district has not had a permanent improvement levy in place since 1995.
What funds are used
Adkins said the without a permanent improvement levy in effect, the district has used general fund and open enrollment revenue to pay for textbooks, buses and other facility improvements.
Adkins said the board is also considering putting both a permanent improvement levy and a bond issue on the November ballot.
The board could use money borrowed from the sale of bonds to build new facilities, and use permanent improvement levy revenue to purchase land, he said.
He said the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency has mandated the district build a new sewage treatment plant at the high school. He said the district has already put about $50,000 toward the project and an additional $44,000 is needed to complete it.
Adkins said school officials and staff will launch a door-to-door campaign to inform voters about the need for the levy. Voters will also be able to see the building needs firsthand as the board meets during the summer months in the various schools.
Requests approved
East Liverpool Schools Superintendent Don Lowe called May 7 the greatest day in the history of the school district.
That's when voters approved the district's request to borrow $7.9 million through the sale of bonds.
Voter approval of that loan means the district will get $52 million from the Ohio School Facilities Commission.
"It's great for the school district and the city, too," Lowe said. "When people look to buy a house, they look at the schools."
Lowe said school officials and volunteers "put on an excellent campaign to get the message out" that the district could improve its buildings with the state paying 87 percent of the cost.
School officials are beginning now to plan in earnest, and meeting with OSFC officials on all the state requirements for the project is the first step, he said.
Lowe and other school officials traveled to the OSFC office in Columbus last week.
Lisbon school officials, meanwhile, are still waiting to meet with the OSFC. The district will receive $11.5 million from the OSFC because local voters approved a1/2-mill, 23-year levy that will generate $35,000 a year for maintenance.
In addition, the district will borrow $2 million. The money will go for classroom and gymnasium additions.
Superintendent Charles McShane said, "We are very excited to get the gears turning."