Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

I was surfing the net yesterday and came across the elections results for the school bond. It appears that the school district made some very important progress but they did come up short. So I guess my first comment to the district is don?’t digress. It appears that some of the polarization between the North and the Central High school districts have healed somewhat. I believe there were a couple of issues and actions by the school board that helped that perception over the last few months. I think the school board must continue to bring the Central facilities at least the Tiger stadium closer to parity with North.

Obviously bringing Central?’s facilities up to a competitive level and also showing good money management will be a tight rope act.

Where the bond issue lost badly was in the older precincts. I would suspect that the empty nesters and the seniors are the ones that voted the issue down. In those precincts that were newer and with young school age children they passed by huge margins. This voting pattern held true every where in the district. So the board has succeeded in erasing the line between the two high schools as far as the haves and the have nots.

So the board must continue to pay attention to the Central High school and also show the empty nesters and seniors they are not wasting money.

Here are some questions that I have heard asked by seniors and empty nesters.

1. If we have enough kids in portable class rooms now to fill ONE elementary school why are we building two schools?

2. Why do we build one floor plan schools and not two story buildings?

3. Why are we NOT planning on building another elementary on the North Campus like was planned in 2000? Are we wasting money buying additional land when the district already owns the 152 acres at North?

4. The OSFC requirements are putting the district is a state of confusion because they require larger (square footage per student) buildings and it drives our front end costs up and those costs must be shouldered by the PLSD taxpayers. The real problem with OSFC funding is the uncertainty of the funds and if they will ever be available. So I think the funding is good if growth continues and it pays for half of a new High School, but if that happens there will be a huge political turnover by then.

5. One issue is growth and is the city controlling growth like promised and if not why not? If voting against the school bond issues will that slow the growth by taking the schools down a notch or two?

6. Then my personal favorite is what is this replacement of facilities because they have outlived their useful life? One example of that was the board replaced the home bleachers at Tiger Stadium last year. The reason I heard and what was given is they had reached their the end of their ?“useful life?“. I have been in that stadium just prior to last year and those bleachers looked and felt fine. Was there a safety issue? My point is that replacing something because it has been there for a arbitrary number of years makes no sense to me and many others.

I think the board now make an effort to understand the empty nesters and the seniors.

Understanding the seniors

Empty nester and seniors are two demographic groups that many school districts ignore during their levy campaigns. Mainly because in growing districts those older voters are outvoted by the younger with children voters.

However we must realize that the Baby Boomers just turned 60. For the next fifteen or so years the numbers in this demographic group will dominate the voting booths when compared to the other demographic groups in our community.

The typical empty nester is normally starting at age 50 and the kids have left the nest. Many for the first time in their married life finally have some financial freedom. Then there is that group that is still paying to put their adult kids through college. Then there is the adults who have peaked and because of their high paying jobs and higher health care risks they are the target of downsizing. Although this may sound like a great time in ones life in many cases the financial security can turn into a living hell and was described below a few posting down. This may very well be the hardest group in the community to support a new school tax.


Then there is the retired senior group that will also be a growing demographic group over the next few years and probably for a long time after that. In many ways this may be a group that the district could target and get some additional voting support. First they are normally people that vote regularly. They normally have time to read and keep up on most issues regarding taxes and the schools. If they haven?’t had any financial disasters like owning Enron in the last ten years prior to retirement many may be very secure financially. They have more control over there life and their household budget.


Why not plan on building one elementary school that will hold 750 students? I believe Pickerington Elementary and Violet current are designed to hold 600 students add another 150 student to each of these schools. I believe we already have the 15 or so acres at Sycamore Creek so propose a two story elementary school there. Then say you will be coming back in two years to add a split grade addition onto Violet and Pick.

By then I am sure you all will be looking for a middle school. Using the facilities that you already have is an important issue among many in the community. I know the teachers and Jim Brink opposed this idea a couple of years ago. I would remind those teachers and show them the press reports coming from Lancaster and Columbus schools that teachers do get laid off and they can suffer the same financial pain as many others are doing in the community.

Bad Idea

The school board does not need to try to change the minds of the people who always vote ''no''. They need to get more people who will vote ''yes'' to the polls.

It's simple politics. You energize your base and appeal to the swing voters. There are some people you will never please, and there's no point in wasting resources trying to.

Although the population in general is aging, the growth in the district is primarily families with school-age kids. Over time, I think bond issues and operating levies will get easier to pass, not harder, because people are moving here for the schools.

With enough growth, the curmudgeons will have to move somewhere else because they will be marginalized here.

Agree and disagree

I agree you need to appeal to your base and get more of the yes voters out to the polls. However, I disagree that it will be easier to pass levies. The city is filled with young families and they have typically voted down levies in huge numbers, I understand this time it was different but is that a trend or an anomoly?

Many people move here for the schools but I can't tell you the number I've talked to who've said - I can't afford more taxes. These are the same families who want a good education for their kids and the primary reason they moved to Pickerington yet they aren't willing to support the schools when the need is so glaring.