By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the petitioners trying to secede from Bowling Green City Schools. Earlier this week, the court agreed that another petition to exit the district will appear on the Aug. 4 ballot.
On Wednesday, after a 55-minute executive session, the Bowling Green Board of Education voted to certify the last petition in question, and send it on to the Wood County Board of Elections and the Ohio Department of Education.
The petitions filed by rural landowners to secede from the Bowling Green City Schools District will be the only issues on the Aug. 4 ballot in Wood County.
The school district, which will be required to pay for the election, could lose up to 220 students and $2 million annually from the areas exiting to other districts.
Seven petitions had already been approved to be on the ballot, but one covering much of Milton Township was delayed because the original petition created an island in the school district. The petition was resubmitted, this time without cutting out an island. It was approved by the school board – but too late to appear on the August ballot. The board certified it to appear on the November ballot.
An attorney for the school district said the board of education acted promptly on the petition – and shouldn’t be blamed for the delays caused by the initial filing of a defective petition. But a lawsuit filed on behalf of Jamie Cook, one of the Milton Township residents who signed the revised petition to move to Patrick Henry School District, said the school board could have acted faster.
The court agreed.
The Ohio Supreme Court said the board of education should have acted more promptly on the revised petition. The court did not agree with the lawsuit that the Wood County Board of Elections was in any way responsible for the delay.
The Board of Elections is working with the Wood County Auditor’s Office to determine which properties are included in the petitions, and which residents will vote on moving to Patrick Henry, McComb, Otsego, Eastwood or Elmwood school districts.
Terry Burton, from the Wood County Board of Elections, estimated 1,100 voters will be allowed to cast ballots, with the petitioned Milton Township property added in. To be placed on the ballot, the petitions needed signatures from 10% of the voters who cast ballots in the last gubernatorial election.
The other residents in the petitioned areas do not have to be notified that their properties are on the ballot. Many have reported that unbeknownst to them, their homes were put in the petitions as properties were patched together to create an exit route from Bowling Green.
The Wood County Board of Elections has put several maps on its website of the properties in the petitions. Since the petitions are the only issues on the August ballot, notices may be mailed out about consolidated voting locations.
“We will try to provide all the information we can,” said Terry Burton of the Wood County Board of Elections. “We want to do the best we can for the voters.”
The auditor’s office is working to come up with the list of addresses involved.
“We’re going to be putting all that information on our website,” Burton said Wednesday morning.
Wood County Auditor Matt Oestreich said his office has received calls from residents who did not know their properties were included in the petitions to change school districts.
“We’ve definitely had some calls,” Oestreich said Wednesday morning.
Determining exactly which properties are included has not been easy, he said.
“It’s definitely been a challenge. We’re working closely with the board of elections on that,” Oestreich said. “This is unprecedented. We’re just working through it and trying to help the board of elections.”
The auditor’s office is also helping residents determine how changing school districts will affect their tax bills. In many cases, the residents’ taxes will actually go up.
According to the Wood County Auditor’s Office, Bowling Green School District’s income tax rate is lower than any of the other districts that petitioners want to switch to. The property tax rate and vo-ag rate in Patrick Henry is higher, and the library district taxes will be higher for those moved into Elmwood and Otsego school districts.
A chart with the agricultural/residential property taxes, income taxes, and library taxes for a home of $100,000 market value and median household income of $55,033 shows the following annual tax totals for each school district:
- Bowling Green: $1,177.01
- Patrick Henry: $1,929.01
- McComb: $1,615.08
- Elmwood: $1,464.88
- Otsego: $1,395.56
- Eastwood: $1,331.63
The petitions to secede from Bowling Green School District were circulated by Grant Chamberlain, Richard Chamberlain, Nolan Chamberlain, Dan Wilson, Brian Smith, Scott Apple, Devin Dauterman, Josh Nutter, Jennifer Adler and Jeff Avery.
