PERRYSBURG – The school district is focusing on its immediate need – more space for elementary students – and may make that the focus of a bond issue request.
At a special meeting Monday, Perrysburg school board members unanimously approved a resolution of necessity and is asking the Wood County Auditor to calculate the required millage for a $68,645,000 bond issue.
The amount is half of the request that failed in November.
“We certainly heard the voters,” said board President Eric Benington.
Listening tours and focus groups have shown there is little to no negative feedback about the need for a new elementary school or additional elementary and high school space, said Superintendent Tom Hosler.
“As you know, that was a significant part of the bond issue,” he said
The consensus is the total cost of the project was too much at one time, he said.
Perrysburg asked voters to support a $140 million bond issue, which translated to 5.95 mills and $520.63 per year for the owner of a $250,000 home.
The issue failed by nearly 1,600 votes.
Record-setting home reappraisals, which led to misunderstanding about what that meant to individual taxes, plus inflation “made for terrible timing,” Hosler said.
There also was some who believed that if the levy failed, the district would stop growing. The district has no control to stop or change the developments in its two townships, he said.
Hosler said other concerns included the lack of explanation for what will happen if there is no relief for space issues, where would the new elementary be and if passage of the levy would result in the removal of the portable classrooms.
“People are coming to Perrysburg, it’s not going to stop, so the concern is ‘how are we going to fix this’ and ‘I don’t want my kid in a trailer,’” said board member Lori Reffert.
The feedback he got was that people were not aware of the need, Benington said.
“I think, though, it was too much,” said board member Kelly Ewbank.
Ewbank said two new elementaries could be built for what the district planned to spend on Woodland, Toth and Fort Meigs elementaries.
The $140 million bond issue included $25.2 million for additions to Fort Meigs, Toth and Woodland schools and $26.5 million for infrastructure improvements (boilers, windows, air conditioning) at those schools.
“At the end of the day, you still have Woodland built in 1979. Why would you put that money into that when you could build another elementary that’s new in 2026?” she said.
That idea was rejected on the basis it would cost the district more to operate five elementaries instead of four.
Additionally, Hosler said moving students out of the elementaries that are overcrowded into two new elementaries will create two new buildings that are already full.
“We looked at every option,” he said.
The plan also included $35.2 million for a new elementary located between the high school and Hull Prairie Intermediate School.
Board member Ray Pohlman said the only major concern he heard was it would cost too much.
“Most of this was about the size of the ask,” Benington said. “The $140 million was more than what people were willing to take on.”
It was not the right plan, but the question is, what were the right pieces, he said.
“The need is still there. That hasn’t changed,” Pohlman said.
Ewbank said if they ask for less, the question will become why they didn’t ask for that in the first place.
“Everything that was asked for in the ($140 million) is important and necessary,” Benington said. “You had to ask. The answer is always no if you don’t ask.”
There was no fluff in the package, board member Sue Larimer agreed. “It was stuff that had all clearly been defined as needed.”
Hosler said the junior high and high school are important, but the board needs to decide what takes priority.
Not addressing the overcrowding at the high school ($32.5 million) means trailers in the next year or two, he said.
Ewbank suggested a new elementary, adding onto the high school, and addressing the other elementaries at a later date.
Pohlman said he could not support that idea, as the most immediate need was addressing the overcrowded elementaries.
The resolution passed at the special meeting doesn’t commit the board to the scope of the project, just the amount, said District Treasurer Randy Drewyor.
The board is considering its options but will likely consider placing the elementary parts only of the November bond issue back on the March ballot, with the goal of addressing other projects, especially the high school portion, at a later date, explained Rachel Zickar director of communications.
The next step is a resolution to proceed, which is expected to be discussed at Monday’s regular school board meeting. The public is encouraged to attend and provide feedback.
That resolution will include the ballot language and has to be delivered to the Wood County Board of Elections by Wednesday for it to be placed on the March 19 ballot.
“What we’re moving forward with is in the best interest of this community and the children in the school district,” Pohlman said.
