Question asked: As a resident of Bascom I'm emailing you to ask.. do you think we are all made of money? How in the world are we to afford a new school which from what I hear is really not needed and the sewer coming to Bascom? Why do you have to time after time raise our property taxes? When is enough enough? How about maintaining the school you have? I've been overseas where I've seen buildings that are well over 300 years old, looking at them you would never know it as "gasp" they maintain and take pride in the buildings. How about taking a lil pride in what you have in the building that is there now. Building new isn't always be the best and right answer.
Answer: You ask many good questions, most of which would be much easier to provide a good answer to in a one on one conversation. I will attempt to give you a brief summary in this email, but ask that you call the office (419-937-2216.
A "short" answer to your question:
The Board and administration do not take decisions to ask for money lightly. We do everything we can to keep our expenses down, making the best use of taxpayer money. In fact, based on recent data, Hopewell-Loudon School had the 11th lowest expenditures per pupil in the state of Ohio. We try to do everything we can to make sure your money is spent wisely.
In Ohio, school funding is based very heavily on property taxes. Over the past several years, Hopewell-Loudon’s Board of Education has steadfastly refused to pursue “continuing” tax levies for operating money in favor of levies which run for a certain amount of time—like 3 to 5 years. This choice has been made by the Board so that taxpayers like you have a say in what happens. This belief is not held by most school districts around the state and it is commendable of this Board to take that stand.
As for our building, we continue to maintain it every day. Without the high level of pride and ongoing maintenance over the past 70 years, this building would not look as good as it does now. It’s important to know, though, that even with the appearance of the exterior of the building, the “systems” like heating, plumbing, etc. are showing the effects of age. Maintenance is ongoing and is getting more and more expensive.
We are being provided an opportunity to share the costs of building a new school with the Ohio School Facilities Commission. Much of the money the OSFC is using is from the so-called “tobacco settlement” dollars provided to all states. The choice we face is this:
Do we want to use $13.5 Million from the OSFC’s tobacco money to build a school our community can be proud of for generations to come
OR
Would we rather spend more money fixing and repairing our current building for the next several years and then eventually have to build a new one on our own?
In the near future we will be arranging tours of the school facilities. Please consider taking part in one of those so you can get the full picture of the building condition. There is much more to see than what most people are able to on a regular basis. These tours will be advertised in various ways, including the levy website www.hl70more.com
I hope this helps answer some of your questions and I would love the chance to talk with you more, feel free to reply.
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2 comments:
It all comes down to - how do you want YOUR money spent - to fix up an old decaying building, or build new for the same cost? I, for one, want to spend my money on a facility that is up to date and something we can be proud of! Think about it!
Building a new building only makes sense. I toured the building and was really suprised at what I saw--we need to do this now!
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