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Greenville Schools Levy
Questions &
Answers, Set 1
If the levy fails, is it possible that the state could come in and
condemn some or all of our old buildings?
Repairs are more likely to be required prior to a building being
condemned. However, at any time a major safety issue could cause
a building to be condemned or shut down. School buildings have many
ongoing inspections that must meet certain requirements. These
inspections are done to maintain safety for all people using the
buildings. Examples of these inspections include fire alarm and
pull stations, kitchen health and safety (including freezer
temperatures) waste water plant, well and domestic water at rural
facilities, asbestos re-inspection (when contained in buildings)
boiler, and insurance companies reviewing of the grounds and
content. Any of these inspections could require districts to make
repairs or maintenance to their buildings. These inspections
could result in large item repairs to some of our buildings.
What is going to happen to the old buildings? As taxpayers, we
want to make sure these will not continue to cost us money once they
are vacated.
The old buildings will not be kept by the school district. They
will either be torn down or sold. The Ohio Facilities
Construction Commission will fund the demolition and abatement of the
three elementary buildings along with the Junior High School if it is
determined to be in the best public interest to do so. There is
money allocated at the rate of 57% local and 43% from Ohio to handle
the cost of demolition and abatement. The building contents can
be used or sold, and the remainder of the ground could be used for
green space or sold to the highest bidder. Should it be
determined that the buildings have a use to the public or private
citizens which will benefit the community, they could be considered for
any purpose available or sold at the time.
Conversely, are we going to be forced by the state to tear down all of
our vacated buildings? What if we want to use or sell one of the
buildings? Will we be permitted to do that?
Ohio will fund 43% of the cost of demolition and abatement which is
anticipated to be a total of more than $3,000,000. Each building
will be assessed separately for potential community uses. The
State will only share in abatement if the buildings are razed within
the project. If a determination is made to demolish the buildings
at a later date, it would be entirely on the taxpayers to fund such a
project.
The entire Board of Education is behind the Superintendent and endorses
this School Bond Issue and our community seems to be pulling together
to support it. What is different about this election than the
ones in the past?
The entire Board of Education and Administration is in full support of
this bond issue. The Board of Education voted unanimously to
bring the issue to the public. What is different is the millage
is less, and there is no income tax. The project is funded over
37 years for the bond issue, rather than the 28 years used in prior
elections, and the added years have reduced the amount of taxes
annually. Interest rates are lower, also contributing to a lower
individual tax. Finally, there is more of a need today to upgrade
facilities to improve security and safety.
Does our new superintendent have experience with passing levies for new
schools and renovations to existing buildings?
Mr. Fries was the junior high school assistant principal for one year
and junior high principal for two years at Piqua when they constructed
and opened a brand new junior high school. He assisted in the
coordination of moving two junior high schools that stood separate for
60 years into one new single junior high school. After being a part of
opening the building, he oversaw the completion of the entire punch
list of more than 400 items to the building.
Mr. Fries was a superintendent for 11 years at Lincolnview Local
Schools in Van Wert and completed an entire building project which
included a new 7-12 building and a renovated elementary. He
completed this project with Garmann Miller Architects and
Engineers. This was a $21,000,000 dollar project that came in on
schedule and under budget. This project was also through the
OFCC, as is the proposed Greenville project.
What upgrades will be done at the high school?
New roofing
Plumbing and fixture upgrades
Window replacement
Security system improvement
Handicapped accessible doors
Technology upgrades to cabling
Cameras and equipment
Increasing cafeteria space
Additional equipment in kitchen
Upgrades in HVAC
Do you have an artist drawing of what the high school will look
like? Do you have a proposed floor plan? Is that set in
stone or does the real planning begin after the money for the project
is approved?
There is a conceptual drawing of the K-8 project
located at several places around the community. It lists the
proposed renovation to the high school which is also listed in these
answers on the www.greenvillestrong.com web site. There would be
another year’s worth of different levels of designing that the
architect would complete with the assistance of the OFCC after a
positive vote by the community for the bond issue.
Why are we not building a K-12?
We are not building a K-12 facility because of the overall expenses to
that project. Under the OFCC regulations our three elementary and
junior high buildings do not qualify for funding with the State for
renovations. Therefore, we have no option to renovate those
buildings with State of Ohio help. They must be new. Our
high school building is our only building that did qualify for
renovations. Another issue with the high school is that the
vocational lab spaces do not qualify for split funding with the
State. Therefore, all labs at the vocational building would be a
totally locally funded initiative at 100% local costs. The
district believes the best option and most cost effective is a
segmented project with the OFCC of a new K-8 facility with renovations
to the high school at our local expense. This provides a new
facility to our oldest buildings and upgrades our high school as well.
The BOE needs to set up as many guided tours as they can manage so that
people can see the condition of the buildings for themselves.
The Board of Education has set up tours in the past for buildings at
South and the Junior High Schools. A few service clubs have taken
tours in the past of South School. We recently hosted a 100 year
celebration of South School at the end of the school year and had
students available to give guided tours of that building. Anyone
who would like to tour South, East, Woodland or the Junior High School
buildings is welcome to contact the central office and ask for an
administrator to conduct a visit for you.
Why are we spending money on buildings that are built with a focus on
future growth when there is no indication that we will have future
growth in our student population?
We are actually building the new facility at the enrollment projection
as provided to us from the OFCC by their required ten year projection
formula. This number for us is just over 1,800 students for the
K-8 facility. If you experience growth, you can normally meet
these needs by increasing classrooms by a few students or by converting
lab or study hall space. If a substantial increase of students
occurs over time, the buildings are designed so additional new space
could easily be attached at the end of a wing. This would be a
good problem to have because it would mean additional state funding for
additional students.
Won’t the district be coming back to us in the near future to ask for
new high school?
This bond issue is a segmented project for a new K-8 building and a
renovated high school co-funded by the OFCC. We are asking to
make renovations to the high school to allow that building to be
updated and more capable of delivering a twenty first century education
to our high school students. These upgrades will allow our newest
district building, the high school, to be of service for years to
come.
I hope the decision makers on this issue are above board, honest and
the process is transparent as to their plans and ideas. People
are smarter than they are given credit and will see through any attempt
to put one over on them.
This bond issue project has been communicated throughout the community
and by various types of media for the past month. It will
continue to be communicated with the public up until the August 6th
election. The complete details of the project were shared in an
article from the Superintendent in the Early Bird, Daily Advocate,
Darke Journal and County News Online. That article is still
posted on the www.greenvillestrong.com website. The project is
completely above board. It is a 64.5 million dollar
project. If the community passes a 45 million dollar 5.19 bond
issue and .50 mill required maintenance levy, the State will provide
19.5 million dollars to the project. This will provide a
district-wide fix to our school buildings and upgrade them to enhance
our educational delivery system.
Why do we need a bigger high school cafeteria when there are no
indications that our student population will be increasing?
Because of increased academic requirements and testing accountability,
there continues to be a need for more academic time in instruction
during the day. There also continues to be more and more safety
concerns in today’s society. A bigger kitchen and cafeteria would
allow the school to service more students in a shorter period of time
to help us with both of these issues in the future. It also
allows us to put more students in this area for other grade level or
multiple grade level student activities. Group collaborative
space is a twenty first century educational process.
How can this bond be put on the ballot when it’s been denied 3+
times? Don’t you have to wait 3-4 years before it can be put on
the ballot again?
Greenville Schools is considered a lapsed district by the Ohio
Facilities Construction Commission. Our percentage of state money
will be appropriated by the OFCC when we pass our local portion.
Our bond council encourages us to pass this issue sooner rather than
later to take advantage of low interest rates. We also believe
new facilities can provide safer and more secure educational
environments that operate more efficiently. The district can
continue to put the issue on the ballet as often as it chooses because
we are a lapsed district. This decision comes with the board and
district receiving public input each time.
What does a new $45MM school have to do with learning and
education? Are you saying that kids cannot learn and be educated
in the schools we already have?
A new school facility improves the educational climate and environment
for education to take place. This develops pride in the students,
staff and community. Many districts show increased learning and
educational outcomes. Newer facilities enhance the
educational delivery process and provide updated technology to develop
a skill that is a necessity today. It also allows students to
attend school in a safer, more environmentally friendly and efficient
operating facility.
The BOE tries to keep these levies quiet and slip them through when no
one is paying attention.
There is nothing about this levy that is quiet. No one is trying
to slip anything through. It is being talked about throughout the
community. There is a definite need for upgraded facilities for
our school system. That need is not going away. On the
other hand, low interest rates could go away and could end up costing
more later.
The levy won’t just build new schools it will also be used to pay
teachers and administrators salary increases.
The bond issue can only be spent to pay the bond and maintenance of the
facility. It cannot be used for the general fund to pay teachers
and administrators salaries. By law the bond fund is separate
from the general operating fund.
Why is the new building going to be bigger than the totals of the
existing buildings? Our student population is shrinking.
The new building is only slightly bigger than the existing four
buildings that it will replace. Extra footage is in increased
classroom, storage, gymnasium, and cafeteria space which are
desperately needed to upgrade our facilities.
What are the plans for sidewalks and the new school? What about
sidewalks in the surrounding neighborhoods?
The district is working with the City of Greenville and Greenville
Police Department to apply for a grant from the Safe Routes to School
Program to assist with sidewalks around the school areas. A
committee of school, city, police officials and other professional
community members has been working the past four months to put this
grant together. We are proud to have community members that are
committing time to apply for this grant.
How many students do you project will be using the new building?
The total enrollment projection of students using this new building is
1,805 by OFCC projections.
It seems that the district and the builders are hiding something.
Why aren’t the conceptual drawings of the new school and the high
school upgrades more specific?
Architect and Engineers will only go so far with conceptual drawings of
a new school before the bond issue is passed. Drawings become
more specific during schematic and construction design phases.
Why is remodeling and retrofitting the existing elementary buildings
not an option?
The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission has a rule that if a
building cost for renovation is more than 67% of replacement cost, the
building must be replaced. The OFCC assessment of all our
elementary and the junior high buildings is that these facilities
should be replaced.
Do I have to live inside the city limits of Greenville to vote in the
August 6th election?
No, you do not have to live inside of the Greenville City limits to
vote at the August 6th election of the bond issue. You must be a
registered voter in a precinct that is a part of Greenville Schools.
Why put the issue on in a special election and what is the approximate
cost?
We are putting the issue on a special election because we are concerned
about interest rates going up. We also want to build a safer,
more environmentally friendly building and eliminate maintenance costs
of older buildings as soon as possible. We want to improve and
enhance the educational delivery process for our students as soon as
possible. An estimated cost of the special election is $16,000 to
$25,000. We have approximately 22,000 people in the school
district, making the cost minimal per person. The district pays
to put an issue on the ballot at any time, not just for special
elections.
An excellent rating means you did the bare minimum on the tests.
Is an excellent rating really something to brag about?
An excellent rating on the School Report Card is presently the second
highest accountability grade that a school district can receive.
The district received this rating the past two years. Beginning
this year, there will be an entirely new report card system that will
show a dashboard of grades in a variety of different categories.
I don’t have children or grandchildren who attend school in Greenville.
Why should I care about the condition of the schools?
Hopefully, one would want to improve the educational facilities for
your neighbors, friends, and children of your community, allowing them
to be educated to twenty first century standards. Newer schools
could play a role in attracting more residents, businesses and industry
employees and help boost the local economy. Everyone has had
someone help fund their education.
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