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Northwestern Superintendent: ‘I want everyone to be involved’

Northwestern Superintendent Tony Orr peers through a hole in the floor for one of the district's buildings in April. District voters Tuesday approved a levy and income tax that will pay for new buildings.

File photo Northwestern Superintendent Tony Orr peers through a hole in the floor for one of the district's buildings in April. District voters Tuesday approved a levy and income tax that will pay for new buildings.

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By Megan Gildow, Staff Writer Updated 9:18 PM Wednesday, November 4, 2009

GERMAN TWP. — Northwestern Local Schools Superintendent Tony Orr called the district’s architects Tuesday, Nov. 3, after confirming with board of elections results that the school’s bond issue had been approved.

“I contacted the architects last night and asked them if we could get started,” he said. “He told me we might want to wait a day.”

Northwestern voters approved the school’s 7.36-mill bond issue and 1 percent income tax by a vote of 2,317 to 1,950, according to unofficial results from the Clark County Board of Elections.

The property tax will raise taxes $225 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home and the income tax, which will pay for operating expenses, would cost $400 a year for a $40,000 income.

It may take a little longer than a day to get started — the district’s leadership will begin discussions with the architect firm, SHP Leading Design, soon and the first step will be creating a process to get community input about what the buildings should look like, said Orr.

“We will have various committees to receive input from all stakeholders,” he said. “I anticipate getting input from food service employees so that we focus on function over form. I want everyone to be involved in this. I even look forward to input from students because this is their school and this is our community and we need to work collaboratively.”

Orr said the groups would likely form in the next few weeks.

Sketches of what the new schools — one building for kindergarten through sixth grade and a second for 7th through 12th — would look like could be available next summer, said Orr. The buildings would likely open in 2012-13 or 2013-14.

“Ultimately, I’m ready to roll up our sleeves collectively and get to work on this,” he said.

Because voters approved the issue, Northwestern has canceled a special board meeting called for today, Nov. 5, to discuss options if the levy had not passed.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0373 or mgildow@coxohio.com.

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