AUSTINTOWN School board prepares for levy

The operating levy would be set at 5.9 mills and the bond issue at 2.9 mills.
By IAN HILL
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The school board is preparing to ask voters for more money to pay for district operations and for the construction of a junior high school.
On Monday, the board is expected to give first reading to a resolution that would place a five-year 5.9-mill levy on the November ballot. The levy would raise about $3 million each year to pay for operating expenses.
Bond issue
The board also is slated to give first reading Monday to a 27-year 2.9-mill bond issue, which would allow it to borrow $26 million to build a junior high school for pupils in grades six through eight. The school would replace Austintown Middle School, which was built in 1916.
Some AMS pupils have said they've been burned by the school's radiators and they've watched plaster fall from the school's ceiling and hit their fellow pupils. Pupils also have complained that the school is excessively hot in the summer and cold in the winter.
"Certainly nobody wants to ask people for two issues, but you can't just ignore Austintown Middle School," said Assistant Superintendent Stan Watson, who called AMS "educationally unsound."
The 2.9-mill bond issue would cost the person with a $100,000 home about $100 a year, and the 5.9-mill levy would cost the same homeowner an additional $200 in taxes each year.
Trustees' levy
Besides the two school measures that may be on the November ballot, township trustees are considering placing a levy on the same ballot to pay for their operations.
"We're going to have to sell our position; there's no question," said Dr. David Ritchie, school board president.
Watson noted that voters haven't approved a new tax issue for the schools in seven years. The amount of money collected using that levy has stayed the same over the years while costs have increased.
Watson said the school board might have been able to wait at least one more year to place a levy on the ballot if the district had not taken what he called "the big hits:" A $1.2 million unexpected tax refund it had to pay to Phar-Mor late last year; a $300,000 decrease in the amount of personal property tax revenue it collected; and a $265,000 cut in state funding.
Watson noted that the board also has lost about $1.5 million in state funding during the last three years because of students who attend school outside of the Austintown district through open enrollment.
Budget cut
The board cut about $1.5 million from its budget this year to avoid a deficit. District Treasurer Barbara Kliner said that without additional revenue, the district could have a deficit of at least $3 million at the end of next school year.
Kliner said the exact size of the projected deficit for next year won't be known until the board finishes its new budget.
State law does not allow school districts to go into debt. If a district has a deficit, the state will place it in a fiscal emergency.
Watson noted that in the seven years since the last tax issue was approved for Austintown schools, the board has spent about $2 million on needed maintenance at AMS. He added that during recent public meetings for 20-20 Austintown, a community effort to create a plan for the township's future, many local residents said replacing AMS was among the community's top priorities.
Pupils in grades five through eight attend either Frank Ohl or AMS. If the bond issue is approved, pupils in fourth and fifth grades would attend Frank Ohl, and pupils in grades six through eight would attend the new junior high school.
Moving fourth-graders from elementary schools to Frank Ohl would allow the district to start an all-day kindergarten program, Watson said.
Rejected issue
Voters have twice rejected a 26-year 3.9-mill bond issue that would have allowed the board to borrow money to construct the new school and renovate Frank Ohl Middle School.
That bond issue also would have allowed the school district to participate in a program that calls for the state to pay 39 percent of the cost of bringing the schools up to state standards.
Watson said the board is not planning to participate in the program if the 2.9-mill bond issue passes in November, noting that the state funding is not expected to be available for eight to 10 years.
Watson said the new school would be built on land the district owns on South Raccoon Road, on the east side of its central campus and just east of the new library and the Fitch High School stadium.
Money from the bond issue also would be used to move the schools' transportation department and special education office from AMS to the central campus. The transportation department most likely would be moved to a new building just south of the softball field, south of Watson Elementary School. School officials haven't decided where the special education office would be located.
Could open by 2005
Watson said if the bond issue is approved, the new junior high school could be open by fall 2005.
The school board would then try to sell the AMS property. Watson said the board could pay to demolish AMS before the property is sold, or it could sell the property with the building at a lower price.
He estimated that it would cost about $1 million to demolish AMS.
Monday's board meeting will be the last for Superintendent Richard Denamen, who is resigning after 10 years. Watson will replace him.
hill@vindy.com