The public will have one last chance today to walk through the former high school at 2989 S. Union Road that was taken out of commission in the 1980s. The event begins at 9 a.m., followed by a symbolic demolition at 11 a.m. Gates noted most of the demolition work won’t get started until Tuesday.
The superintendent pegged the total cost of asbestos removal and demolition at about $700,000, which is being covered entirely by the district because the superintendent said no other financial assistance was available.
Gates said the district’s theme as it approaches the election is “It’s our turn and it’s our time.”
The district – which ended three years of fiscal emergency in 2011— has a chance to qualify for state funding from the Ohio School Facilities Commission.
“It’s a one-time shot,” said Gates, adding that the OSFC would co-fund the project in the small district, which has fewer than 500 students.
OSFC spokesman Rick Savors said that in 2008, Jefferson Twp. Schools had qualified for funding to build a $17 million school. At that time, the state’s expected share was 41 percent and the local share 59 percent. But the district’s financial woes forced it to the withdraw that issue from the ballot.
Now, with the district in a healthier financial situation, districts officials believe the time is right to seek voter approval of a 8.33-mill bond issue and a 1.7-mill levy to cover ongoing maintenance of the new school if it’s built.
Currently the district has a junior/senior high school and an elementary.
It’s not clear if the state’s share on the project could increase. Savors said the percentage of state and local funding is based on a formula determined by where a district appears on the eligibility ranking list the Ohio Department of Education updates yearly. “If there has been a change in that position, the state and local shares would change,” Savors said, noting it probably wouldn’t vary much.
“The bottom line is we don’t really know until we find out the district has the ability to raise its local share. If it does, we will go in and look at the numbers,” Savors said.
The “one vote” ballot issue would cost the owner of a home valued at $100,000 about $307.17 annually when the amounts for both parts are combined. It breaks down to $255.11 for the bond issue and $52.06 for the levy, according to the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office.
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