Liberty Union still waiting on funds
By ALAINA FAHY
The Eagle-Gazette Staff
afahy@nncogannett.com
BALTIMORE - Liberty Union-Thurston Local Schools waited four years for help from the Ohio School Facilities Commission to improve buildings.
The district is working to change the way the facilities commission prioritizes funding for projects.
''We think we have waited our turn,'' said Liberty Union-Thurston superintendent Paul Mathews.
Voters approved a $7.9 million bond issue in 2002 that was supposed to help pay for a facilities improvement project, Mathews said.
The district is waiting for 60 percent of the project cost the facilities commission planned to pay.
The project was to include renovations and additions to Liberty Union-Thurston High School, construction of a new middle school and renovation and additions to the Liberty Union-Thurston Elementary School, Mathews said.
But the Ohio School Facilities Commission reprioritizes projects each year, and a district's spot on the list can change.
Liberty Union-Thurston lost 19 positions on the list since the bond issue passed.
The district probably won't see the money from the state until 2010, Mathews said. That estimate is based on changing property values - which drives the list.
The district could be forced to put another tax issue on the ballot if the $7.9 million doesn't cover 40 percent of the project's total cost.
Administrators for Liberty Union-Thurston Local Schools called Tim Schaffer, fifth District representative, to help prevent the school district from slipping further down the list.
Schaffer and the district introduced a bill - House Bill 520 - to the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday.
The bill would help school districts maintain original placement on the facilities commission's list, Schaffer said.
The bill is expected to be sent to the Ohio House of Representatives and then Ohio Senate for passage, Schaffer said.
He estimates there's about a 60 percent chance of the bill passing.
The quickest House of Representatives could approve the bill is by the end of this week.
Jennifer Bryiant , one of the voters who supported the bond issue, thinks the facilities commission's estimate of 2010 is too long to wait.
''I don't think they would have passed it if they would have known how long it would take,'' Bryiant said about voters' decision to share the a portion of the project's cost.
The district spent the money from the bond issue to complete renovations and additions to the elementary school, Mathews said.
Construction costs rise every year the district waits for the state's share of funding, Mathews said.
The district cannot back out of the program because it cannot afford to lose the 60 percent of funding for construction because it's a necessary project.
If House Bill 520 does not pass, the district continues to wait until it makes its way to the top of the priority list, Mathews said.
Schaffer is optimistic about the bill's chance of passing.
''I hope it works,'' Schaffer said.
