Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Threat Threat Threat. YAWN!!

Bond issue headed to ballot



Pickerington board still trying to lessen school overcrowding


By Charlie Roduta THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH




The options for a school district bursting at the seams don?’t look promising.
Because of that, members of the Pickerington Board of Education last night approved placing a 2.5-mill bond issue on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Otherwise, they said, the alternatives are slim: Move kindergarten into another building. House fourth-, fifth- and sixthgraders in a separate building. Continue adding portable classrooms, though some schools have no more room for them. Or implement a split-session schedule at the middle- and junior-high schools.
It?’s a grim situation for Pickerington students, parents and staff members if the $37 million bond issue fails in November, officials said at last night?’s board meeting.
''As much as we try to find a magical solution to get us through the next 10 years, the only solution is additional classroom space,?’?’ said Assistant Superintendent Lewis Stemen.
If the bond issue is approved, it would finance two new elementary schools and pay for land and several building-improvement projects.
The plan, similar to one that two-thirds of Pickerington voters rejected in May, would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $76 more a year. That same homeowner currently pays annual school taxes of $1,145.
Stemen already had presented two split-session options to board members. One proposal would revert Heritage Elementary, which currently houses students in kindergarten through sixth grade, to a K-4 building. Fifth- and sixthgraders from Heritage would join the middle schools, which would have split schedules.
The second option would use the middle schools for elementary-school students. The fifthand sixth-graders from there would join students in the ju- nior highs, which would be under a split schedule.
Among the new options Stemen presented to the board was one that included adding portable classrooms.
But to keep up with enrollment in the next nine years, the district would need 33 portable units ?— 66 classrooms ?— which is the equivalent of three full schools, board Vice President Lisa Reade said.
''It would look like trailer city, no question,?’?’ Stemen said.
Superintendent Bob Thiede said the board will review the plans and await results at the polls to see if they need to be implemented.
Though board members and administrators denounced split sessions, they said the district?’s elementary schools have no other ways to ease overcrowding.
Teachers are using libraries, gyms and cafeterias for classroom space, they said. Art and music teachers travel from class to class with a cart of supplies. Physical-education lessons are held in classrooms when gyms are occupied.
Last year, more than 650 elementary students were housed in portable classrooms. Pickerington and Violet elementaries now have no more room for portable units on their property, Stemen said.
croduta@dispatch.com

It ain't about the money

I can afford what they are asking for. Come on admit it, you can too. It ain't about the money. It's about WHO we're giving it to and HOW they will spend it.

IT'S ABOUT TRUST!

Granted not every member of the board was there the last time a levy was passed (by only 40 votes for $77.7 MILLION dollars - remember?? don't forget the $7 MILLION dollar sports googaplex. Don?’t forget the $1 million dollar concession stand) but many of the other same cast of characters from that show are still in the mix. This levy drive is not a new episode but the same old rerun over and over and over and?…

Hey school board, get a clue! You have not EARNED our trust yet. One step towards EARNING it would be to get rid of the old dishwater and start fresh. Look at who is still lurking around from the last levy and how they screwed the entire city of pickerington. The township made out OK with their palaces. Get rid of them and maybe just maybe in another couple of years you will have earned our trust enough to pass another levy.

Oh and by the way - you think you got it tough now? Wait til you fail the next few operating levies and see just how tough your life can get. Wait til you try to run operating and construction levies at the same time.

Sorry kids. Your dad and I have put you first since the day you were hatched. Hopefully some day you will understand the decisions we are making now. You will just have to tough it out for a couple of years until this district can take a stand against wasteful spending, soaring teacher salaries and benefits and good old boy politics that they have done for years. Some day you will understand what tourniquets are for. Someday you?’ll understand that you may have to cut off the finger to save the hand.

2 last things. I dusted off my crystal ball and in it I saw the past and future. Remember the threat they used the last time they were pounding us for operating levy? They were going to turn off the air conditioning in the classrooms because they couldn't afford it. I see their hand on the thermostat next year already.

Ok one more last thing. Where in the world are they getting their data that shows this high growth and increases in enrollment in the next few years? My information shows violet township building permits are down 70%. Someone told me but I don't know who to call in the city to confirm, but their permits are down something like 60%. If the city and township have slowed building houses down this much why isn't this reflected in the enrollment figures for the schools? Oh yeah that is because the same guy who has projected enrollment for the last few decades is still doing it now. Time to put the tarot deck away Lew and talk to the areas around you to get the facts.

Vote them out!

I find it interesting that you challenge the current school board members ''to get rid of the old dishwater and start fresh.'' While I agree that the former board MAJORITY overspent on the new Jr. and Sr. High Schools, I believe the current board would never make that same mistake. All their proposals have been economical and efficient rather than extravagant. And, it's up to the district voters to step up and run for office and vote for the best candidates. The current school board only gets to vote one time, each of them.

As for enrollment projections, certainly permits are down and if impact fees in the city and township become a reality, this will have an impact on growth projections. The district is already overcrowded and new classrooms are desparately needed. The number and timing for additional new buildings (beyond the currently proposed 2 elementaries) would certainly be influenced if growth decreases. Hopefully, the enrollment projections will be updated with the new (2005) data. But, this doesn't change the fact that we're already bursting and it's unlikely that the current population of students will decrease. New information might suggest that the current population might grow at a slower rate, but I don't see why it would decrease.