PERRYSBURG – Committees charged with looking at new facilities for the school district, along with the board of education, have their work cut out for them.

“People think that when Perrysburg puts up a levy it just passes automatically, “ said Superintendent Tom Hosler at a March board meeting. “In the past 30 years we’ve had 22 levies presented to voters with 15 passed and seven failed, so it’s not always automatic.”

There is an operational levy expiring in 2024 and a permanent improvement levy expiring in 2025. Those could be replaced, renewed or left to expire. A bond issue could also be put before the voters by the board as well.

The administration reported at the March 14 board meeting that the district has grown by 17% since 2011, which is 800 students. Hull Prairie Intermediate, the districts most recently built school, serves approximately 800 students.

Facility recommendations are to be presented by this new committee by January 2023.

Assuming the public supports recommendations for a new school, Hosler said that a ribbon cutting could take place by summer of 2027.

An initial 120 district residents were interested in joining the committee that is tasked with determining the way the district’s facilities will be expanded. That number dropped to 70, which will further be broken into a master plan core committee and three subcommittees.

In naming the subcommittees, Hosler was clear about the importance of the expenses related to the committee’s recommendations.

“Any option that we face in bringing to the board is not just the cost of the walls, but what it costs to operate,” Hosler said.

The three subcommittees will be:

• Group 1: Student Population Growth and Facility Use

• Group 2: Athletic, STEM, Special Education and Fine & Performing Arts Building Space

• Group 3: Fiscal Analysis

The district has a $64 million general fund budget, eight schools, 5,639 students and 663 employees, which has changed significantly over the last decade.

The district provided a number of statistics that are meant to be taken into account during the decision making process.

“Buildings built in the 1950s really weren’t equipped for all learners,” Hosler said.

In today’s world, 10% of students have individualized education plans and are receiving services for disabilities.

Perrysburg is the 59th largest school district in Ohio. In the 2010 fiscal year it was the 82nd largest. As a comparison, 334 Ohio school districts, of 607, have a smaller population than Perrysburg High School.

Since the 2014 fiscal year, Perrysburg is one of the top three fastest growing districts with an enrollment of more than 4,000.

Demographically, nine years ago the district was 89% white and today it is 80% white, serving an estimated 1,139 students of color. Meanwhile, the teaching staff is 97% white.

A similar committee was convened in 2012, when the decision was made to increase building space, ultimately resulting in the completion of Hull Prairie Intermediate in 2017. That 16-member committee worked a combined 320 hours in over 10 months.

Current building evaluation totals for district needs are $51 million, with $38 million of that total considered immediate. The school with the most needs is the junior high, at $19 million.

In the Ohio Department of Education District Profile Report of Expenditure per Pupil it was found that the $12,047 spent per pupil was $1,339 below the state average of $13,386.