Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Hmmmmmm, I think we can stretch our bucks for another couple of years? What do you think?


By Katelyn Sattler
Staff Writer
With a $59.9 million bond issue for Pickerington schools on the Nov. 7 ballot, there are questions about the district?’s long-term plan for housing students and how future schools will be funded.
Here are some of these questions regarding the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission and the matching funds from the state that are designed to help school districts with building costs.

What is the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission (OSFC)?
The OSFC was created in 1997, and is charged, as its mission, ?“To provide funding, management oversight, and technical assistance to local school districts for construction and renovation of school facilities in order to provide an appropriate learning environment for Ohio?’s school children.?”

Where does the OSFC get its funding?
It is funded through the state of Ohio from several sources: general obligation bonds, available cash and interest earnings, and the state tobacco settlement.

How does the process work?
The OSFC conducts a facility assessment of the current state of a district?’s buildings and does an enrollment projection. It then works with the school district to develop a Facilities Master Plan. The plan can change over time as the district changes, for example, if enrollment increases or decreases significantly from projections, but it doesn?’t usually change considerably.

Does the Pickerington Local School District (PLSD) have a Facilities Master Plan?
The PLSD began work on a Proposed Master Plan in April 2003. The Master Plan is in its seventh revision, with some additional changes being proposed by the Pickerington Board of Education (BOE), which will then be submitted to the OSFC.
What?’s included in the Facilities Master Plan?
?•Renovations to Fairfield Elementary: $5.2 million.
?•Renovations to Heritage Elementary: $9.5 million.
?•Renovations/additions to Pickerington Elementary: $5.5 million.
?•Renovations to Tussing Elementary: $2.5 million.
?•Renovations/additions to Violet Elementary: $6.3 million.
?•Two new elementaries: $14.9 million each.
?•An additional new elementary: $12.1 million.
?•Renovations to Diley Middle School: $1.6 million.
?•Renovations to Harmon Middle School: $1.9 million.
?•A new middle school: $18.4 million.
?•Renovations to Lakeview Junior High: $1.5 million.
?•Renovations to Ridgeview Junior High: $12.4 million.
?•A new junior high school: $16.5 million.
?•Renovations to Central High School: $10.3 million.
?•Renovations to North High School: $3.2 million
?•A new high school: $38.4 million.
?•Plus another $5 million in miscellaneous expenses not covered by the OSFC.

The BOE would like to make three changes to the master plan:
1) Take Building A of Heritage Elementary offline instead of renovating it to OSFC standards. Building A, which is the oldest part of the school, would then be unavailable for student use. The reason the BOE would like to take it offline is because the cost to bring it up to OSFC standards would far outweigh any benefits.
2) Build secondary annexes to the existing high schools rather than build a third high school.
3) Appeal the renovations or additions to PHS North and Lakeview JH recommended by OSFC.

The BOE reported in its Oct. 9 meeting that Paul Brown, its OSFC Consultant, that changes #1 and #2 would most likely be accepted, and that change #3 might require some dialogue between the PLSD and OSFC.

Does the Facilities Master Plan need to be approved by the board and the OSFC by the Nov. 7 election?
The board has been told that it would be best to have the master plan approved by the BOE prior to the election.
The BOE passed a resolution of intent at its Oct. 9 meeting to approve the master plan before the November election and to participate with OSFC.


contined........

My wallet is empty



What percent state matching fund is PLSD eligible for?
The district is eligible for a 50 percent match of state funds.

Would it be better to wait a couple of years and be eligible for even more state funds?
It depends. Although the district has been trending in the direction of receiving more state matching funds since 2001, there is no guarantee the trend will continue. The district is ranked against other districts in valuation per pupil, and is dependent on the six year reappraisals by the county auditor.
Another part of the equation is that construction costs keep rising anywhere from 6 percent to 12 percent a year and those costs will be taken into consideration.

How much money are we talking about?
The seventh revision of the master plan details plans for the construction and renovation of buildings for a total cost of approximately $180 million. If the OSFC agrees to the changes requested by the PLSD, the total cost of the Facilities Master Plan might change, possibly decreasing the total amount to $160 million.

If the Pickerington schools?’ bond issue passes, can the district expect to be reimbursed a percentage of the cost of the new schools?
It doesn?’t quite work that way. The district needs to spend its 50 percent first, then the OSFC will allocate to the district its matching share during the construction of schools and renovations approved in the Facilities Master Plan. If the district ends up spending more than 50 percent before the OSFC?’s funding kicks in, the amount above the district?’s requirement will be refunded.

How long does the district have to reach its local share?
Once the construction of a new building or renovation of an existing building is done under the approved Facilities Master Plan, the district is entitled to the credit toward the matching share. Some districts can defer participation in the program with no time limit. The OSFC will then come in and do an assessment when the district decides to participate.

What?’s the controversy?
For the OSFC to approve a Facilities Master Plan, all buildings must be constructed or renovated to the Ohio School Design Manual and OSFC standards. These include more technology and safety requirements, as well as updated classroom requirements for multi-teaching environments.
There is some skepticism that the state will still be funding the program when Pickerington is eligible to receive funds.
(Answers to these questions were obtained from: Pickerington Local Schools Superintendent Dr. Robert Thiede; a presentation to the Pickerington Board of Education by Ruscilli Project Manager Jeff Krebs; a conversation with OSFC Spokesperson Rick Savors; and www.osfc.state.oh.us.)

Idiot

The impact on a monthly basis is marginal.

Vote no and watch what happens -

- your property values will tank. Think about that when you think about your wallet

- our kids will end up in split sessions just like Groveport. If you want that, please move there. I'll pay for the U-haul.

- the schools, of course, will do what they can...just like in Reynoldsburg. You want that - move there.

I think you need to look around

It is always nice to hear from our friends at the schools and the zealots who support them. Then these same folks want to know who is posting messages here and they try to flush them out by calling them idiots. The fact is that many of the arguments that the property values will fall because a bond issue failed are false. We are on the Fifth failure this next month and I believe you could say the home values are in the tank not only in the PLSD but everywhere in Central Ohio