PATASKALA, Ohio (WCMH) — Several school districts in central Ohio went to the voters on Tuesday asking them to pass levies or bond issues, including Southwest Licking School District.
District leaders said more space is needed to keep up with enrollment as the region grows. Despite this, more than 63 percent of people voted no on Southwest Licking’s bond issue.
The $115 million bond issue would have given the district money to build a new middle school, add on to the high school, and build an athletic facility called The Spear.
“We’re continuing to grow,” Southwest Licking Board of Education member Kandee Engle said. “You can look around the district and see new apartments, new houses. We’re going to need to take care of the kids in our community. The kids are the future.”
Southwest Licking just built new schools with funding from the state, but district leaders said the state underestimated enrollment numbers, so there is still a lack of space.
“Times are tough for everybody, but no matter what, we just keep growing, so we got to find someplace to put them,” parent Jennifer Hickman said.
Had it passed, this bond issue would have cost homeowners $147 annually per $100,000 of their home’s assessed value.
Hickman said she understands that people don’t want to pay more in taxes, adding that people are moving to the Southwest Licking area and their children need to go to school.
“I see the massive amounts of kids that we have in small spaces,” said Hickman, who is also a substitute teacher in the district. “It’s a reality that it’s a now problem and by passing it now, we could have started to build and at least be able to address the problem sooner.”
Engle said the schools are already overcrowded, so another bond issue will go on the ballot in the future.
“More space is needed now, and a new school takes a couple of years to build, so we have to get moving,” Engle said. “We’re going to have to go back. We absolutely will have to have the space.”
Engle said the board members will need to come together to decide if changes need to be made to the bond issue and when the right time is to send the bond back to the voters.