State aid eludes Canfield schools
Fall bond levy assumes only local dollars will finance building plan
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CANFIELD -- The school district will have to pay its own way, for now, if it wants improved facilities because state funding could be a way off.
School district officials are focused on the 7.5-mill bond levy on the November ballot and hope for better luck with voters this time.
A bond levy is a property tax levy used to provide the local revenue for construction. This one is expected to raise $104,954,912 to build a new middle school, a new combined elementary school and to make select renovations to the high school and to the former Hilltop Elementary that would house the board of education offices.
The measure, if approved, would cost $262.50 per year on a $100,000 home. For a $250,000 home it would cost $656.25, according to information provided by school district Treasurer Patti .
Voters in May 2022 turned down a $107 million bond issue geared toward building a campus with all-new buildings on the Red Gate farm property the city owned. The majority of voters at that time did not favor one campus.
After the defeat last year, the school board formed a committee to look at all options to address Canfield's school-facility problems. That committee of more than 50 residents, school staff and business people eventually arrived at one plan on which the district would focus.
Last week, the school board voted 4-0 to place the 7.5-mill bond levy on the ballot. The amount raised would cover the entire cost for the new buildings and renovations.
"I've heard comments on the large sum," said Nader Atway, board vice president. "But if we don't move on it now, it will just cost more down the road."
NEW BUILDINGS
Schools Superintendent Joe Knoll at last week's school board meeting showed drawings on the proposed new school buildings.
He said the original site plan called for a three-story middle school built between the present middle school and Edwards Avenue. He said the city doesn't allow three-story buildings, but it would work with the district.
As an option, Knoll presented a plan to keep the two-story middle school and build it around the present school building. The academic part of the new school would be built in the same location, but two gyms would be constructed on the south end of the school where the playground is now. The gym placement would enable the building to remain a two-story structure.
The school board also fielded questions about the plan.
"Have the traffic problems on Edwards Avenue been considered?" Edwards Avenue resident Ed Kay asked. "Edwards is not rated for heavy duty construction vehicles."
He also asked why the small school administration needs a large building like Hilltop Elementary; what were the factors that prevented a Shields Road property (in front of the Canfield Baseball Club) from being used; and does the board plan to eliminate like positions when the two elementary schools are combined?
Board President Traci DeCapua answered, "I will get those answers for you."
WHAT ABOUT A GRANT?
The question also came up about help from the state.
Knoll said Canfield has qualified for a 16 percent Ohio Facilities Construction Commission grant, but that may take some time.
"We are an Expedited Local Partnership Program District," Knoll said. "We will get 16 percent of the project cost at some point down the road. For now, we have to foot the whole bill."
He explained that when voters rejected the bond levy last year, the OFCC grant kept Canfield on the list, but moved it to the bottom. What that means is, Canfield will have to wait until 500-plus schools go through the process before Canfield cycles back to the top.
Knoll explained that because Canfield is considered a wealthy community, the district can qualify only for 16 percent, and can only obtain that assistance if the community approves a bond levy for the balance, or 84 percent.
A $33 MILLION SNAG
A little hope came from another source when state Rep. Al Cutrona, R-Canfield, got an amendment into the two-year state budget last month. It would have added $33 million for a new Canfield middle school -- but was axed from the final version of the funding bill.
The funds would have gone through the Appalachian Accelerated School Building Assistance Program. It was introduced last year and was similar to a program approved by the Ohio Legislature in 2002. That program is the Accelerated Urban School Building Assistance Program. That program saw 250 new and renovated school buildings in the big eight cities of Ohio.
The Appalachian program was geared toward the rural and smaller urban areas as a way to give these areas the assistance they need to improve school facilities. It covered school districts in Ohio's 32 counties that are federally designated as Appalachian, of which Mahoning is included. The proposed bill would have provided $600 million for the program.
Cutrona lives in Canfield and said he understands that Canfield has some "high earners and a lot on fixed incomes."
"This was a way to be creative and get a new (middle) school done," Cutrona said.
Under the Appalachian program, a district had to have between 2,000 to 3,000 students and have a school building 100 years old or older. Canfield qualified on both of those requirements.
If the $33 million had been approved, it would have provided 80 percent of the cost for a new middle school, leaving the taxpayers to come up with a bond levy for the remaining 20 percent.
Like the OFCC grant, the $33 million is not forever gone. Cutrona said he will come back with it.
"It's back to the drawing board," he said. "We are not completely done. I'll have another bite at it" in the next budget.
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
Knoll was asked what would happen if voters approve the 7.5-mill bond levy -- and then either of the state programs, or both, were to come through.
He said obviously it would be welcomed and would lessen the need for the full levy amount.
In the meantime, the school district wants to better informvoters about the school finances.
"At 7 p.m. on July 25, school district Treasurer Prince will host a meeting at Canfield High School Auditorium to discuss the district's finances," Knoll said. "It will be a question-and-answer session, and I will be there to address facilities."
He said, in the meantime, the school buildings continue to eat away at the budget.
"Last year we spent $384,000 on a section of roof at the high school," he said.