My wife was reading the Piqua Daily Call online the other day and said she read something on the lines of Covington planning to build a new school or schools in the near future and since I couldn't find reference to it then I would like some information reguarding this matter.

Thanks,

Mr. Kessler

Yes, Mr. Kessler. Covington is eligible for State funding from the OSFC. This eligibility opportunity has prompted Covington to consider our options. There are a series of community meetings designed to inform, and to collect information.

The first meeting was on Jan 20th at the High School. In this meeting, consultants (Garman & Miller) presented information regarding Covington's options. OSFC rules and costs that are covered were explained. Garman/Miller also collected information on whether or not there is interest from the community to procede with a building project, and if so, which option(s) have the most interest. A tour of the High School was given at the end of the meeting.

(At least) Two more community meetings have been scheduled. The second meeting is Feb 18 at the Middle School upon completion of the regularly scheduled Board Meeting (approx 7:00 to 7:30) and the Third meeting is March 2 at the Elementary School at 7:00.

The school is in the process of getting information posted on www.covington.k12.oh.us. I'll post a reply when the information is posted on the school's web site. If information is urgently needed.... flyers from the State, and copies of a powerpoint handout (specific to Covington) are available at the Board Office.

Thanks for showing interest,
Brad Hall

Dear Mr. Hall,

I have a great many of concerns at this point without having any true details of the plan as the write up in the paper was very brief in any fashion. I will also go as to admit that I have not seen the condition of any of the schools other then walking outside of them briefly while walking our dogs through the summer. I have noticed that the oldest school seems to be the one on Grant St but it still seemed to be kept in decient repair. I can definately understand and appreciate the thought of it being outdated and in need of some repairs.

The true concerns that rest with the majority of the community has to be is this the best time to move in this direction this quickly. I myself am wandering what's to come with just the ideal of government at this point right alone adding more stress with local policy. Job loss is at an all time high and taxes are pretty much assured to rise to help make up for the national deficite along with spiking grocery/fuel costs. I even have to guess if this country will go into depression with the going trend as I'm sure everyone has the same thoughts. Plus speaking of home values which have dropped reciently then I have to wander if adding additional taxes to properties is the correct action. Several houses have already been lost in our community and adding more negitives just doesn't seem to be a correct action.

I however am very happy to see the grant being offered to our schools and being used correctly. My thoughts up to now would be to use the money without effecting the community directly at this point. Make updates and repairs with the grant and wait for better times to make drastic changes to our schools. Everyone has enough to contend with without any additional expenses. We have a very clean community and are blessed with great people whom care deeply. I hope these thoughts and concerns leave food for thought upon future plans. I don't mean to be negitive but more to be cautious of what's to come that we already anticipate.

A truely concerned resident,

Mr. Kessler

Hi Mr. Kessler,
A summary of the Jan 20 meeting is now posted at www.covington.k12.oh.us.

Thanks for your kind words regarding the condition of our school buildings. We are blessed with a conscientious maintenance staff who take pride in keeping the buildings in great shape. (Thanks Mr. Boyer, Woods, Francis, and Beeman.) Kudos to our students and staff who respect district property.

I understand your concerns with the economy and the burden on everyone's personal finances.

I hope to be able to clarify one aspect of how the OSFC funding works. The way it is set up is.....
OSFC money is not available unless the community votes in favor of a building (or renovation) project.

If the community votes against the project, the district does not receive any funding from the OSFC. So, it doesn't quite work like a conventional grant. (It would be nice if it did.)

Sincerely,
Brad Hall

Dear Mr. Hall,

Thanks so much for clearing up my confusion as I was wandering why it was so important to what I thought was a repair/rebuild grant for our schools.

I must admit I am astounded that our state would even bother to offer such a grant with the current state status. I guess they figure cities won't ask for such grants under these rediculas restrictions under such drastic times.

One thing I do plan on doing is writing our represenatives and discussing my thoughts on such grants as this is just not right. It's been said one man can not move a mountain but you'll never know unless you try.

I am truely sorry that I can not vote in favor of your grant as I truely think that this venture would hurt our community more then help at this time. I learned never to take a risk with so many negitives in a row and right now it feels like the negitives are overwhelming.

Best wishes,

Mr. Kessler

I’d like to take this opportunity to provide more information regarding where OSFC money came from, and explain guidelines our State Legislators developed for dispensing this money.

OSFC money comes from the tobacco settlement (not collected directly from taxpayers).

Our State legislators decided they would set aside tobacco money so that it could only be used for construction projects related to public education. The legislators then developed a method for determining which schools got first dibs on the money, and what percentage the State would pay.

There are 612 public school districts in Ohio. They ranked the schools based upon the value of local real estate per pupil ($/student). They also developed a scale where the poorest district was eligible for 100% funding from the State, and the wealthiest-per-pupil school district (Kelly’s Island) was eligible for 0%.

For example, the “poorest” district in the state was the first to get an opportunity to vote on a bond levy if they wanted to go ahead with an OSFC project. The State would pay for almost the entire project (except for Locally Funded Initiatives (LFI’s) like spectator gyms and bus garages…. The OSFC has a list of LFI’s they don’t fund).

Likewise, schools like Kelly’s Island who are not eligible for any funding are essentially in the same situation as all of us were before the OSFC existed… if you want to build a school you put up a levy to pay for it all.

With this system, it logically follows that a vast majority of the poor districts pass their bond issues by wide margins; after all, they are getting a new school for pennies on the dollar. As the ranking climbs from 1 (poor) to 612 (wealthy), the percentage of state funding diminishes. It stands to reason that as the wealthier districts get to vote, bond issues will pass by slimmer and slimmer margins until they reach a point where they wealthier districts begin to fail them. Covington’s ranking is 290, eligible for 52%.

With this in mind, Mr. Kessler makes a good point …. why would the State bother to offer such a program with the State’s current economic status? The worse the economy gets, the more tempted our legislators might be to convert the tobacco money out of the OSFC and into other State programs. This temptation may get stronger as districts begin to reject OSFC funding. However, if legislators discontinue OSFC, there might be outrage from residents of school districts that did not have an opportunity to participate. With all these factors in play, it is difficult to predict how long OSFC funds will be available.

Brad Hall

I would like to start out saying I have a great respect for anyone willing to better our community and anyone willing to do so deserves a pat on the back plus the idea of admitting to flaws in the grant they are shooting for deserves even greater respect. So Mr. Hall I hope you realize this in nothing personal.

I do have the main remaining questions of concern and that is what will the pennies on the dollar reflect on to us? How long will the term of raised taxes last? Per year what will be the adverage increase per person on adverage? What is the projected cost of the new school or schools? You knew I was going to ask and I know you would be greatly disappointed if I didn't.

On last note, I would also like to take the time thanking Mr. Hall for the information provided on his behalf and time spent. This is why Covington keeps getting better and better every year.

Sincerly,

Mr. Kessler

Mr. Kessler,
In regards to how much a building project would cost, I refer you to www.covington.k12.oh.us. The link to the PowerPoint summary provides Project Costs for various Plan options - WITHOUT LFI's (Locally Funded Initiatives).

It is too early to answer your question about how much the average cost per homeowner would be until a Plan, which includes community feedback, is chosen, how much the LFIs will cost, and what the duration/rate/millage of the bond will be. The decision on the Plan is not expected until May. Then the Board Finance Committee would have to meet to finalize the bond details. Given this process, I would expect an answer to that question to be available in the May-June time frame.

Hopefully more people will come to the February 20 meeting. In these meetings, all in attendance are given the opportunity to cast an e-vote via a hand held remote control as a secret ballot. The results of the e-vote are tabulated within seconds. (I was impressed with the technology regarding how this e-voting works.) The results of the e-vote will play a role in helping the Board determine which Plan (if any) to put on the ballot in Nov '09 when the residents of the community will get an opportunity to vote on whether or not to go ahead with the Plan.

Sincerely,
Brad Hall

Just wanted to give a quick update on the school building project. The preliminary "Plan" for the facility looks like it will be a PK-12 building, three stories high, situated about where the current elementary is.

Many people are asking how much it will cost the taxpayer. Although the Board doesn't yet know how much millage will be requested on the Nov ballot (or if it will be a combination income/real estate tax) but...... if it turns out to be just real estate, there is a very handy resource to figure how much it will cost a homeowner. Go to http://levycalculator.ohea.org/ and input the millage rate (when the Board announces it) your home's market value, our school district, and whether or not the homeowner is 65 or older. Click submit and it will tell you how much your additional annual cost will be, and how much your total real estate tax will be.

BUT WE DON'T NEED A NEW SCHOOL!!!!

Dear Concerned,
I respect your position that we don't need a new building. In May of 2010, the registered voters of Covington will get an opportunity to determine whether or not to proceed with a building project. If you have questions about the project they can be e-mailed to CEVSDBuildings@covingtonk12.org

To explain how we ended up with a proposal to put a building project on the ballot.... the Board held community meetings where the attendees provided feedback. These meetings were open to the public. The feedback in these meetings was overwhelmingly in favor of putting the building project on the ballot.

To explain how we ended up determining whether or not to repair vs. build new....
In 2005 the OFSC performed a facility assessment on each of our three buildings where they evaluated 23 categories ranging from heating, roofing, HVAC, plumbing, handicap access, doors, windows, sewer, lighting, technology, etc. The OSFC has a rating system where they recommend the cost to renovate should not exceed 66% of the cost to build new. The elementary scored 87%, the middle school scored 89%, and the high school scored 72%. Feedback from the community meetings overwhelmingly leaned towards building new.

To explain the timing for why a building project is being considered now....
The OSFC ranks all 612 public schools in Ohio based upon the district real estate value per pupil. All of these schools are placed on a list in order of poorest to richest. OSFC offers each school district a share of the money set aside from the state's tobacco settlement. I think OSFC ends up making offers to about 30 schools per year. Covington's number (290) came up in 2008, and the Board deffered one year.

The OSFC pays a share of the building project, the poorer the school district the larger the OSFC's percentage. I think Covington ranked #290. OSFC's share for Covington is 52% (before locally funded initiatives).

For more information cut and paste the following link...
http://www.covington.k12.oh.us/District%20Building%20upgrade/090504%20Covington%20pub%20mtg%20pres%20with%20final%20solution.pdf


I hope this helps explain why the building project is being placed on the ballot. The Board has postponed the vote on the building until the May 2010 election.

Brad Hall

You are correct, we don't need a new school. The overwhelming people that were in favor of a new school were by my guess people that worked at the schools or were affiliated in some way.

Trust me when I say that most I've talked to out in the community are not for a new school. I just hope all these people vote when it reaches the ballot. I know I for one will not miss voting.

There have been plenty of new buildings go up in Covington and just because those are the only older city buildings in the community doesn't make it right to raise taxes so high for something not truely needed at this time. I just hope more people stand up and say or do what is needed to stop this sillyness.

Chris Kessler