NORTH JACKSON Campaign to pass bond levy begins
The levy would cost the owner of a $50,000 home about $157 a year.
NORTH JACKSON -- With two months to go before the election, supporters of the 10.2-mill, 27-year bond issue on the May 7 ballot launched their campaign Monday evening.
If the bond issue passes, the Jackson-Milton school district plans to build a single kindergarten-through-grade 12 building and discontinue use of its early-1970s vintage elementary school and 1913-vintage high school as recommended by the Ohio School Facilities Commission, said Superintendent Buck Palmer.
"If we work together, we have the power to change these kids' world.," he said.
"The time is now, and every vote will count. It's this community's responsibility to provide good school buildings for its kids." he said.
Plans: The district hopes to build the 140,000-square-foot building near the elementary school on a 100-acre site, which will include enough room for future expansion and for a playground and athletic fields, Palmer said.
The new building would have separate elementary, middle school and high school classroom wings with shared library, computer lab, gymnasium and cafetorium facilities in the center, he said.
The bond levy will contribute $21.5 million and the state will contribute an additional $7 million toward the project.
The levy will cost the owner of a $50,000 home about $157 a year in new taxes.
If the levy passes, architect Mike Fagan of Olsavsky-Jaminet Architects told several dozen people at Monday's meeting, it will take about a year to plan the new building and about 14 months to build it. A centralized K-12 building is cheaper to build and operate than multiple buildings, he said.
Undecided: Jack and Barbara Barringer, who attended the meeting at the elementary school and whose son, Joshua, is an eighth-grader, said they think the high school needs to be replaced, but they are undecided about the levy as presented.
"If you go down to the high school, it is falling apart," Barringer said. "This building here I'm not sure of. I think it still has some use, and we ought to utilize it if we can."
The levy campaign will include an effort to get new voters registered by the April 8 deadline, Palmer said.