|
July
27, 2013
The
need is not going away
Ben Studabaker
Editor:
I
would like to give you some facts concerning the upcoming
Greenville Schools bond levy. Our
oldest
building is South School, which was built in 1911.
The Junior High School was built in 1923 and
East School was built in 1950. Woodland
Heights was added in 1962, formerly built in 1956 as the
consolidated township school building.
Our newest building, the High School, was
built in 1962. In
an act of fiscal responsibility,
Gettysburg merged with Greenville City Schools in 1972.
At this
point, an addition was added to the High School to accommodate the
freshman
class. The decision was made in 2007 to close North School, built in
1901 and
Gettysburg School, built in 1924, because of needed updates and
financial
reasons. This act
allowed the
consolidation of seven buildings into five buildings, saving the taxpayers approximately
$500,000 each year by
reducing staff positions, utilities, and annual maintenance costs. This reconfiguration
also allowed the district to combine grade levels for better teacher
collaboration.
Seeing
the need statewide for new school facilities, the State of
Ohio formed the OSFC/OFCC in 1997.
This
program provided co-funding for new school buildings in the state
of Ohio. Wanting to
be proactive in
looking toward
the future needs of our district, the Board of Education first
attempted a building levy in 2003.
After
an extensive
search, the Board of Education purchased additional acreage
adjacent to twelve acres already owned by the district on St. Rt. 121
in 2005 to be used for a new building site.
With the age and structural issues at the
Junior High and
Elementary buildings, the need for a new K-8 facility became
apparent.
I
see the Greenville School District spending excessive tax
dollars on building maintenance and upgrades every year
because of the age of our buildings.
In the last ten years the district has spent
$3,966,851.97 on school building
upgrades, such as asbestos removal, electrical, plumbing,
etc. In the last
five years, because of
the age of the buildings, the
district
has spent $352,914.38 on non-custodial, non-routine maintenance which
is over
and above ordinary costs just
for the
Junior High and Elementary buildings.
This does not include the excessive utility
costs in our inefficient buildings.
Because it becomes increasingly
more expensive to repair older buildings, this figure will
becomemincreasingly higher as time goes on.
The district is currently in the process of
replacing the boiler at East School at a cost of $80,000. The
district is also doing upgrades costing $37,025.00 at the Jr. and Sr.
High
buildings to provide better security for our staff and students. There is blacktop and roof
repair being done
at the High School. There has been ongoing repair of the
heating and water treatment systems at
Woodland Heights. The
steam pipes are
corroding and over 150 holes have been repaired so far. The cost of just
monitoring the water treatment
system is $8,000-$10,000 each
year.
Every building has asbestos, which must be inspected periodically at an
average
cost of $5,200 per year. When
repairs
are made, because we are a public entity, the buildings must be brought
up to
current building code. This inflates the cost of the repair even more. I feel that it is misuse
of taxpayer dollars
to continue spending as much money as we have to spend in order to
maintain our
old buildings.
The
residents of the Greenville School District have and are
continuing to fund new school buildings all over the
state of Ohio. Tax
from
this levy, unlike most others, stays right here within the Greenville
School
District. It does
not go to Columbus or Washington D.C.
It stays right here to benefit our students.
The
August 6th bond
levy
is the sixth building levy Greenville
Schools has placed on the ballot in the last
ten years. The
average cost
of the prior five levies is $9,010.05.
The need for a new building is not going to go
away. Why continue
spending
tax dollars on election costs, high utility costs, and upkeep of old
buildings. Let’s
take advantage of the low interest rates, low construction costs
and state co-funded dollars. We
can also
take
advantage of the 12.5% rollback if we pass this levy now.
Ecclesiastes
3:1-3 states that “There is an appointed time for
everything. And there is time for every event under
heaven…A time to tear down and a time to build up.”
My prayer is that this is our time. I feel certain that if we
wait, it will cost us all more later.
“If not us,
who? If not now, when?”
-John
F. Kennedy
Respectfully,
Ben
Studabaker
Member
of Greenville Schools Board of Education
|
