The survey results showed that the school board has support among the community in terms of the need for new schools.
More than 57 percent of the 300 respondents to the survey said the district’s buildings aren’t as good as neighboring school districts and need improvement. However, not nearly as many are willing to pay for an upgrade.
RELATED: Northeastern has plans for new facilities, looking for feedback
"It looks like we definitely have a shot at passing a bond issue," Kronour said. "But there is going to be work."
He also said that choosing between plans is still going to be a tough choice.
“I would have hoped that we would have had a definitive answer,” Kronour said.
The district hopes to replace the aging school buildings soon and is going through the process of selecting a plan to put before voters in November. The district started with six plans, and residents who attended school forums to discuss the proposed new schools narrowed the selection to two options.
SPLIT: Northeastern residents split on $100M plan for new schools
An informal poll at forums showed the first choice among residents who attended those events was to build two new PreK-12th grade buildings, which would keep the district split in two high schools. Currently, Northeastern Local Schools consist of Northeastern High School and Kenton Ridge High School.
The second choice was to build two PreK-eighth grade school buildings and one high school, for a total of three schools.
The state has offered to pay 40 percent of the overall costs, which could be about $103 million for the two-building plan and $106.7 million for the three-school proposal.
Northeastern is the last district in Clark County to have two high schools. Both buildings are aging — Kenton Ridge was built in 1976 and Northeastern was built in 1952.
However some residents who have attended meetings said voters cannot afford the tax hikes that would come with building new schools.
COVERAGE: Northeastern residents debate $100M school plan
Residents of the district have been split about consolidating schools for years and the scientific results show that not much has changed. About 50 percent of respondents said they prefer one high school, while more than 43 percent said they prefer to keep two high schools.
The difference between the two results are smaller than it may first appear, as the margin of error in the survey was more than 5 percent, and many of the people who said they would prefer one high school also said they would not vote yes on a bond issue regardless of what the school decides.
Demographics play a large role in the continued divide of the district, the survey showed. People older than 65 were much less likely to vote for the bond issue than a parent in the district.
The survey was conducted by Paul Fallon of Fallon Research and Communication Inc. based in Columbus.
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