By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
City voters promised they would support a bond issue as long as it didn’t take away their “neighborhood” elementaries. Rural voters vowed to support a bond issue as long as it was split between property and income taxes.
But even then, the voters failed to follow through for students and teachers – again.
The unofficial count for the high school bond issues was 5,403 (52%) against and 4,959 (48%) in favor.
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“I’m so outraged our community keeps doing this to our students and our teachers,” Board President Jill Carr said after the numbers came in Tuesday night.
Bowling Green will remain the only district in Wood County without new buildings.
A vocal faction of voters have said they support the schools but won’t vote for a bond issue until those at the top of the district leadership are gone.
Meanwhile students will return to the 60-year-old high school Wednesday morning, knowing that the voters aren’t willing to invest in a new building for them.
“I’m just devastated – so is the rest of the board,” Carr said. “I’m at a loss for words right now.”
Where does the district go from here?
“We need to take some time to regroup,” Carr said.
When discussing the building issue earlier this year, the board of education members expressed apprehension about putting a tax issue on the ballot since the last three efforts to fund a new elementary school failed.
But there was some confidence that a less controversial goal of a new high school, rather than a new consolidated elementary, could get voter support.
Tara Loar, who led the school district campaign, explained prior to the election the facilities committee’s process for selecting a new high school as the most likely to get voter support. The group was made up of community members, business people, farmers and educators. They toured a new high school in Northwood, then toured Bowling Green’s school buildings.
“A lot of people had their eyes wide open,” Loar said.
At that point in the process, 99% of the committee agreed Bowling Green’s buildings needed an upgrade.
The 60-year-old high school was built for different times – with small classrooms and few electrical outlets to meet the technology needs of students.
The combined income tax and bond issue would have generated funds for a new $70 million high school building, which would have been constructed on the grounds of the current school.
The 3.9-mill property tax was to be collected for 30 years, and a 0.5% income tax increase was to be collected for seven years. A school maintenance fund had been built into the income tax collection.
With interest rates and inflation climbing, the board agreed that waiting will only cost more money. Five years ago the district tried to get a levy passed to replace two elementaries and the high school – all for $72 million – compared to $70 million for just a new high school now.
Loar acknowledged that a “quiet campaign” was led for the school issue in an effort to keep the temperature down between opposing factions in the district.
“Time is of the essence,” she said. The students deserve better educational facilities, the teachers deserve a better workplace, and the community needs a boost, she said.
Loar said the district enrollment is down – and it’s hurting the community.
“We want people to be proud. We’ve lost a little bit of that,” she said.
