Westerville to vote on school infrastructure funding via levy
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Westerville City School Board of Education unanimously voted to put a combined bonds and levies issue on the November ballot.
Issue 44 is a combined 1.66 mill bond and 4.9 mill operating levy, which means one vote covers both issues. Like other Central Ohio communities, the question is a tough one for voters in the Westerville City School District. Doug Krinsky is a longtime Westerville resident who said he's put three sons through the district. He has been very vocal about his stance on the issue.
"I am dead against this current levy that they've put up," Krinsky said.
According to the district, the measures would help fund infrastructure projects for some schools and support the current operating budget.
Westerville City School District Treasurer, Nicole Marshall, said the 4.9 mill operating levy is expected to generate nearly $21 million annually for general operations of the district. The district's business manager, Kari Dennis, said the bond portion would generate $140 million to address some of their older school buildings.
Watch: Westerville residents, school officials share thoughts on levy
"We are wrapping up work on our first cycle of our facility master plan and starting to focus on our buildings that were constructed and opened in the 1960's," Dennis said.
This would include renovations and additions to Cherrington Elementary, Huber Ridge Elementary, Blendon Middle School, and Walnut Springs Middle School. The measure would also fund additional projects such as addressing the district's music and performing arts spaces, enhancing safety, and expanding their preschool and stadium support spaces.
"Future projects include perimeter security. So, at an elementary school, we might be looking at perimeter fencing around the actual land that we own that our students are utilizing during the day," Dennis said. "At our middle and high schools, we're looking at protection devices around entryways."
If passed, the levy would cost the owner of a Westerville home appraised at $100,000 about $172 annually.
Krinsky, on the other hand, said the district already has enough money that it can move around.
"I'm not happy. There's a lot of other residents that aren't happy, and we intend to defeat this levy and really have the board take a look at what they're doing and revamp the projections," Krinsky said.
"If it's not approved, we would have to come up with a way to make up $20.8 million in shortfall in revenue for the district," Marshall said. "And so we would reengage the community and have conversations around priorities and what that looks like."
Marshall said when voters last approved a ballot measure in 2019, the district's projections indicated it would have to seek another levy in 2023. She said they were able to push that need for another year, but now they're calling on voters again.
"As we look at the inflationary costs that everyone is seeing, we're dealing with the same things. We've seen cuts in our state funding," Marshall said. "We've seen cuts in federal funding. We had our federal funding from COVID dollars expiring."
"They don't need more money," Krinsky said. "They need to spend the money more wisely."
"We have buildings that are continuing to age. We are a mature school district with mature facilities and why we maintain those through our capital improvement projects and preventative maintenance plans," Dennis said. "These bond funds allow us to address a whole building at a time."
Despite this, Krinsky said he will be voting against Issue 44 this election. He has started a movement with other concerned residents. He has created a Facebook group dedicated to Westerville's levy concerns.
"Part of that is appearing at the public forums, continuing to go to the board meetings and expressing our concerns to the board and quite frankly, the district, why they don't need more money and take advantage of the current money that they have," Krinsky said.
The district is holding community levy town hall meetings. The next two are October 8th at Blendon Middle School and October 17th at the Early Learning Center. Both meetings are at 6 p.m. The district encourages residents to attend and ask questions or reach out to them directly if you can't attend either.