Northmont’s five-year, 5.9-mill levy will raise $3.51 million per year in new funds. School district officials say that money will help after the state budget held district funding flat for this year.
Kettering’s 3.4-mill permanent improvement levy was passing by a four-point margin with only two precincts remaining. The levy will raise $3.96 million per year for facilities projects, permanently. A 10-year capital plan recently created by the district mentioned numerous needs, including kindergarten and preschool classroom space, plus major renovation of the Barnes building, high school auditorium and career tech areas.
Superintendent Scott Inskeep said the string of bigger projects will start next year after planning and bidding. Some smaller projects, like paving parking lots and replacing turf in Roush Stadium, will happen first.
“I’m very much taken back by the community support. We want to … protect their assets and take care of the school district’s buildings,” Inskeep said. “We hope to do most of the things in the plan in the next 3-to-5 years.”
Tipp City voters voiced a clear “no” to the district’s 3.98-mill bond levy aimed at building a new elementary school, voting it down 63 percent to 37 percent. Superintendent Gretta Kumpf said the outcome means the district will retain the same school structure for next school year, but officials will keep talking about how to improve facilities.
“We see this as a temporary setback for our district, our community and our students,” Kumpf said. “We continue to feel the need is real, so we’re not giving up on it, that’s for sure.”
She said the school board will meet next Monday and Tuesday, with the facilities question a big part of the Tuesday meeting.
Voters in West Carrollton also rejected their schools’ request for the first new operating money in nine years, with the vote 55-45.
While new levies were mostly rejected, voters were happy to approve renewal levies for school districts, merely extending existing tax rates for another four or five years. Renewal levies passed comfortably in Lebanon, Fairborn, Troy and Xenia.
About the Author
