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Growing District Again Asks Voters for Help

Posted on: Sunday, 23 April 2006, 15:00 CDT

By Charlie Roduta, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

Apr. 23--To help voters understand how much the $36 million bond issue on the May 2 ballot will cost Pickerington residents, Superintendent Bob Thiede asks voters to consider the cost of a postage stamp or a large pizza.

That's 39 cents a day, or $12 a month, if voters approve the district's fourth request to build schools since November 2004.

The 2.3-mill issue would pay for two elementary schools, land and several improvement projects. The bond issue, similar to those rejected in November and last May, would cost the owner of a $200,000 home about $140 a year, district officials said.

"There is a sense of urgency from the standpoint that we've got to open up these two new schools in the fall of 2008 in order to avoid the possibility of split sessions, ongoing redistricting of neighborhoods and adding portables," Thiede said.

After three rejected attempts with voters, the district faces limited options to house a booming student body. Pickerington averages about a 425-student increase annually and is about 750 students over capacity in the five elementaries.

This year, the district changed attendance boundaries for its elementary students to keep up with the growth. But the efforts were not enough.

New students are shuttled to nearby schools until room is available at their home school. Libraries, gyms and storage closets have become makeshift classrooms and tutoring areas. Art and music teachers push carts from room to room.

Last year, more than 650 elementary students were housed in portable classrooms. Pickerington and Violet elementaries have no more room for portable units.

"We have come to the point that it's putting a strain on the district and it will impact us academically -- student-wise and staff-wise," Thiede said.

To keep up with next year's growth, the board decided in February to turn Heritage Elementary into a kindergarten-tofourth-grade building and move about 250 fifth- and sixth-graders from there to Diley Middle School. Then, the district will shift about 190 Diley students to Harmon Middle School. The district also plans to add three portable units to Harmon and a six-classroom portable unit to Diley.

It marks the second year in a row the district has had to change attendance boundaries, said board President Lisa Reade.

"I think (people) realize the schools are full," she said. "It's been two years in a row, and it's not going to stop."

"If you don't want your kids moved around a lot, we need to build new schools," she said.

croduta@dispatch.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio

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