Northeastern Local needs new school buildings

11:23 PM Saturday, October 24, 2009

The time has finally come for Northeastern Local School District (NELSD) to receive our distribution from the tobacco settlement. We now have a great opportunity to build two new campuses, one at the Kenton Ridge site and the other at the Northeastern site, each consisting of an elementary, middle, and high school. The state determined that renovation of our buildings is not cost-efficient.

The state of Ohio is offering to pay 41 percent ($45.8 million dollars) of the cost of our new schools from the tobacco settlement. When the tobacco funds are gone, we will have to pay the full amount for new schools. As they say, “You can pay me now, or pay me later.” Later, we will pay the full cost. Our school buildings will not last forever.

The cost to someone owning a home worth $100,000 is less than the price of a cup of coffee a day. For age 64 and under, it would be $231.89 per year or 64 cents per day, and for a person age 65 and over, it would be $173.92 per year or 48 cents per day. It was necessary to initiate an earned income tax (W-2 or Schedule C income) in order to raise our local share. For earned income of $40,000, your earned income tax would be $100 per year or 27 cents per day.

I am a 73-year-old retiree, and did substitute teaching in our district a few years back. In South Vienna, I used a bookcase on wheels as the teacher’s desk, which I got out of the janitors’ closet, to teach the computer class in the library area. This was not good for my students or those using the library. This is just one example of the sad state of our current facilities. Take time; visit our schools or ask your children or neighbors’ students about the state of our buildings.

Our students deserve better, and the only way to get that is by passing a building levy. Our schools are old, outdated and expensive to maintain, and need to be replaced. School buildings will never be free and we are the ones who have to pay for them. It is the American system. Someone has to pay, and that someone is us.

As a retired person, no one hates increased taxes more than me. The cost to me, with a house value of $93,200, would be $158.15 per year or 43 cents per day. This is the senior citizen rate. I have no earned income tax.

It is the least we can do, for our most valuable commodity, our children, who will be the future of America. What are the advantages to us, the taxpayers of the community?

• 1. New schools will bring pride to the community, with state-of-the-art technology that will enable our students to learn so they can compete in the world’s competitive market.

• 2. Our property values will increase.

• 3. The district will benefit from new construction, which will also lower everyone’s taxes.

• 4. New schools will be safe and secure. Today we are unable to perform a lock down on our schools, and safe areas are non-existent due to “open-style” buildings. You cannot put a price on safety, as one student death is unacceptable.

Now is the time to vote for Issue 13 because construction costs are at an all-time low. This will be a great economic stimulus for NELSD. The economy will improve in 2010. Be a part of this turnaround, and join me in voting for new schools for NELSD. Failure is not an option.

Greg Groeber is co-chair of the NELSD Levy Committee.

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Dear RH parent,

One more thing...the money used to pay an aide comes from a totally different pot of money than the money used to build buildings. It is ILLEGAL per the state to use money from one "pot" to fund something else not in that "pot". Thanks for being educated!

It figures...
9:47 PM, 11/3/2009

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Dear RH parent,
You speak of giving teachers the resources they need to teach the kids? Working in a healthy, safe, and technology sound building would be some of those resources. Voting no keeps them in the opposite of this. You have to feed and clothe your kids--understandable. Just remember that the small amount of money you were asked to pay a month for this levy is a night or two of going out to eat. Keep that in mind next time you sit down at a restaurant or buy over priced clothes.

It figures...
9:44 PM, 11/3/2009

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Simply can't afford! Wrong time to ask for money. I need to feed and cloth my kids if they want to attend school. A new school is not gonna provide my kids with good education. Let's provide our teachers with the resources they need to provide good education. Like maybe an aide for large classrooms, or an aide on the bus to provide safety for the disabled and non disabled children. Speaking from experience!

RH parent
9:30 PM, 11/2/2009

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I have paid 10s of thousands of dollars to this school district over the years. I am sick of the innuendo that if I don't support a levy that will raise those taxes by over 30% that I am not doing my part. I am Taxed Enough Already.

T.E.A.
10:50 PM, 11/1/2009

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I would like to ask the opponents of this levy who paid for the schools they attended.Were they safe,secure and just as importantly,did they have all the facilities that a modern student would need to prepare for success? Let's give our children the same opportunity.

grandoug68grad
9:15 AM, 11/1/2009

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