Symmes Valley voters must wait 10 days to find out whether or not their high school receives much-needed improvements.

Saturday, October 28, 2000

Symmes Valley voters must wait 10 days to find out whether or not their high school receives much-needed improvements.

If a 1/2-mill maintenance levy passes General Election muster Nov. 7, then the priorities – upgrades for the building’s plumbing, sprinklers, floors and other problems – will happen, said Jennifer Leach, a member of the Symmes Valley Development-Expansion Committee and Aid parent.

"These are things that have to be done and we kind of have to look at that," Mrs. Leach said. "If we pass this, the district won’t have to pay out of the general fund and we get a new library and classrooms as a bonus."

The committee began campaigning for the levy in late summer, shortly after state officials notified the district that $3.8 million in renovation money was available.

It started slow, but committee members are watching it heat up, Mrs. Leach said.

"It seems like as elections have gotten closer, we’ve had more people call and ask for signs," she said.

Both teacher and non-teacher unions have given their seal of approval to the levy, she added.

And committee members are working ballgames and parent-teacher conferences to provide more information.

The high school building is almost 40 years old and needs to be upgraded, Mrs. Leach said.

It also needs a new cafeteria area because students frequently stand and wait. The library is very small, with little space for books and computers. And, several teachers have to float between classrooms because there are not enough, she said.

"It’s all important but we kind of look at it like, there are things that have to be done anyway," she added. "And if we can pay this small amount, less than the repairs are going to cost, we’re going to get a bonus of all these other great things."

Essentially, Symmes Valley’s promised renovation money has already been designated for schools, Mrs. Leach said.

"So, either it comes back to our community or we say no thank you and our tax dollars go to some other community’s schools," she said.

State officials notified the district this summer that the renovation money was available, but only if the district matches the funds and provides the state-required maintenance levy.

Symmes Valley has to match with $83,000, which can come from its own budget, officials said.

The district doesn’t need a bond levy for that amount. But in all school construction issues, districts must pass a 10-year operating levy, which the state requires, committee chairman Richard Adcock said.

The district currently has 6.1 mills levied, with a 1/2 mill of that for maintenance. The millage will mature in 2013. A 1/2 mill maintenance levy would be come an extension of the previous maintenance levy, beginning in 2014 and extending to 2023.

It’s a minimal tax for a large amount of improvement, Adcock said.

For instance, the tax is about $15 a year on a home worth $100,000, and that begins when the current maintenance levy expires years from now, he said.