Crowd packs gym to hear building project details

MARIA STEIN - Marion Local School District officials unveiled a proposed $23.31 million junior high facility upgrade to a crowd of up to 600 residents during a special meeting Monday night.

A packed house of an estimated 500 to 600 Marion Local Schools residents turned out to learn about plans to build a new junior high building to meet the demands of increased enrollment and other needs.

School officials were impressed by the large turnout for the community meeting.

"It shows you care," said board president Randy Bruns, noting a previous community meeting drew only about 90 people.

"I am extremely happy with the turnout," said superintendent Mike Pohlman. "It shows their interest in the topic to learn more to make an informed, educated decision (about the proposal).

Garmann Miller engineer/architect of Minster and a task force of 40 residents have worked together to offer a variety of facility options based on needs identified during a building study.

The building proposed on Monday night featured nine classrooms including special education classrooms, as well as an ag-education/career tech center, a large gymnasium and locker rooms, coaches' offices, cafeteria/food service facilities, a commons/student dining area, a 1,000-square-foot greenhouse and administrative offices.

Pohman reported the 2,000-seat gymnasium would serve as the high school gym. The current high school gym, which would be used by junior high teams, has a seating capacity of 1,700.

The proposal also includes a connector to join the building to the elementary school and new football practice field.

The proposed facility involves the construction of a 63,580-square-foot building south of the existing elementary school. The cost the project has been estimated at approximately $23.31 million. The board is expected to contribute nearly $2 million in district reserves, bringing the amount to be financed to about $21.31 million.

It was noted that no state funds are available to help finance the project. Pohlman said the district received Ohio School Facilities Commission funding for a project in 1999 and is not eligible for additional funding.

A combination of a proposed 0.25% earned income tax levy and a 7.42-mill bond issue is being considered to pay for the building project. Both the tax levy and bond issue would be for 30 years. The school district does not presently have a school income tax levy.

The income tax is projected to generate $4.5 million over 30 years and the property tax would yield $16.815 million over the same period, reported Mike Burns, managing director of the Columbus firm of Baird, a financing consultant.

It was reported the income tax would cost the average taxable income in the district of $98,409 per household an estimated additional $246 per year. The cost per $100,000 of home value would be estimated at $260, bringing the total for $100,000 home value/$100,000 earned income to an estimated additional $506 per year.

Pohlman said increased enrollment in recent years, the need for additional classrooms and more cafeteria/food service and gymnasium space were among the reasons for launching a planning process on the possible expansion of district facilities. Special education needs and the aging infrastructure were among the other concerns cited for the building study.

The evening's presentation ended with a question-and-answer session.

One resident asked whether there will be a shortage of classrooms at the high school in 10 years as students in the current large elementary school classes get older. Pohlman said space would not be as big of an issue at the high school because some students attend Tri-Star Career compact.

Another person in the audience asked whether classroom space would be available if the two preschool classrooms would no longer be housed at the school.

Pohlman said the board is committed to the pre-school program being permitted to use Marion Local classroom space since those children are future district students.

The next step in the process will be an April task force meeting to consider feedback from the community meeting and to develop a building project recommendation for the school board at the June 12 meeting.

The board may approve a resolution at that meeting to place a bond issue on the Nov. 7 ballot. Final action would then be taken by board members a month later to finalize the process of placing the issue before voters.

The next regular board meeting will be 7 p.m. March 13 in the board conference room in the elementary school.