By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green area residents will soon get to grade school building options in the district.
Over the past nine months, Superintendent Francis Scruci held several open houses in different settings to find out if citizens want to construct new buildings, renovate the old, or do nothing. But he kept seeing the same faces at the meetings.
So he reached out to a survey firm used in the past to gauge citizen opinion. But the customary $4,000 price tag had jumped to $12,500 due to the complications of using cell phones rather than landlines. Another firm was consulted, but cost even more, at $25,000.
So Bowling Green State University professor Shannon Orr offered up her public administration graduate students to do the job, for $4,000.
The surveys will be mailed out later this week to 2,000 randomly selected taxpayers in the Bowling Green School District. The surveys have just 10 questions with many of them concerning demographics.
The meat of the survey asks residents to rank the building options for the district. Those choices are:
- Combine the three elementary schools into one new building, and build a new high school.
- Combine the three elementary schools into one new building, and renovate the high school.
- Renovate Conneaut, Kenwood and the high school.
- Build a new Conneaut, and renovate Kenwood and the high school.
- Keep all the buildings as they are.
Accompanying the survey is an explanation of the costs to renovate and build, plus the costs to taxpayers. The recently renovated Crim Elementary and BG Middle School are not included, since they are only in need of yearly upkeep.
A letter from Scruci also explains the conditions of the schools and the ranking of the projects by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.
The grad students working on the project – Toni Shoola, Kaitlyn Trent and Travis Clements – are hoping for a survey return rate of 32 to 33 percent, or close to 700.
The surveys include a self-addressed stamped envelope to encourage people to return them by March 14. “All they have to do is answer it and put it in the mail,” Scruci said.
“The board wanted to make sure all the community had an opportunity,” Scruci said. And the public meetings just weren’t reaching enough. “We were getting a lot of the same people. The board wants to hear from everybody.”
People not receiving the survey in the mail may fill out an online survey at www.tinyurl.com/bgcityschools17. The survey is mobile friendly and can be easily completed on a smart phone in about three minutes.
The results of the surveys will be presented at the April board of education meeting.
The mailed survey results will be recorded separately and carry more weight than the online surveys, since the online are subject to duplication.
The pamphlets accompanying the surveys explain the costs expected with school renovations and with constructing new buildings.
Renovation costs are as estimated:
- Conneaut Elementary, which was built in 1954: $8.24 million.
- Kenwood Elementary, which was built in 1953: $6.88 million.
- Bowling Green High School, which was built in 1963: $23.77 million.
Costs for new construction are as estimated:
- Consolidated elementary, combining the three elementaries into one new building: $32-$39 million.
- New high school building: $40-45 million.
- New Conneaut Elementary building: $13-16 million.
The brochures also explain the costs to taxpayers for each proposal, with varying amounts depending on whether the district uses a 28-year bond or a 37-year bond to finance the buildings.
For the owner of home valued at $100,000, the bond costs would range from:
- $240 to $280 a year to combine the three elementaries into one new building, plus build a new high school.
- $199 to $231 a year to combine the three elementaries into one new building, and renovate the high school.
- $120 to $137 a year to renovate Conneaut, Kenwood and the high school.
- $141 to $165 a year to build a new Conneaut, and renovate Kenwood and the high school.
- $0 to keep all the buildings as they are.
“We hope that they read the cover letter and look at the pamphlet before they take the survey,” Shoola said. “It will help them make some well-informed decisions.”
In an effort to reach a different population, Scruci said he met Monday morning with members of the local agricultural community.
“It was a lot less contentious than most people would think,” he said.
Scruci is hoping the board will make a decision on the best route for the district by May or June, if the board wants to put an issue on the November ballot.
