photo by: Robert A. DeFrank
Union Local School District Board of Education member Shaun Roe, right, speaks during a board meeting Thursday. Also pictured are Superintendent Zac Shutler, center, and board member Terry Puperi.
Voters in the Union Local School District will decide whether to commit $62 million to a large-scale project to upgrade its facilities.
District officials have been reaching out to the public to share facts about the bond issue and the state of the district. A committee has been making the case for the bond.
Voters will decide in the Nov. 7 general election whether to approve the 8.25-mill bond issue and another 0.5 mills for upkeep. If approved, a total of 45 percent of the funds would go to academics and classrooms, with 27 percent for plumbing, heating and air conditioning and air quality; 19 percent for athletic facilities; and 9 percent for security.
Improvements would include separate bus lanes and a rain shield for the elementary school, extensive building improvements for the middle school and roofing and a new STEM — or science, technology, engineering and math — room for the high school, as well as additional security for the buildings.
Superintendent Zac Shutler has been sharing facts about the proposal and the state of the school buildings on the district’s website and YouTube channel.
“We’ve not passed a levy since 1976, and we’ve not passed a bond issue since the early to mid-’90s,” Shutler said, referring to the bond issue that funded construction of the elementary and high schools that opened in 1998 and renovation of the former high school to make it a middle school. “We’ve tried to express in clear terms to the community the need and what the bond will provide.”
Shutler said the middle school was built in 1958 and has significant needs in terms of plumbing, electric and heating and air conditioning. It was the original Union Local High School and became the middle school after extensive renovation. The elementary and high school buildings were constructed in the mid-1990s, and he said they are also in need of upgrades.
“We need to move our classrooms and our spaces into the modern learning environment,” he said. “The asphalt and roadways in and around the school need repaired. We want to upgrade the safety issues at all the entry points. We want to create a designated entry point for afterschool events and at our athletic facility.”
He added that there have been some questions about the amount of money designated for athletic improvements.
“Extracurriculars are part of the high school experience, part of the district experience,” Shutler said.
On the videos and in meetings, it has been noted that property tax bills will be assessed by taxable value, not real property value, and residents are able to look up property values on the Belmont County auditor’s website and calculate the amount that would be owed.
The amount taxed for the bond issue would typically be based on 35 percent of the total appraised home value. The 8.25 mills and 0.5 mill total 8.75. For a $100,000 home, 8.75 percent of $35,000 would come to an extra $306.25 yearly; for those 65 and older who receive the Homestead Exemption, the amount would be $229.69.
He said the district would immediately move into the design phase if the bond is approved.
“If the public votes down the issue of the bond, obviously we’d need to recalibrate. We’d need to seek how we can meet the needs of the district better, then move forward and put it on the next available ballot because these are significant needs. We need to move the district forward. We’ve tried to be excellent stewards of the public dollar, but we’re at the point now where we need to ask, and we hope the community understands,” Shutler said.
Board of education members Larry Cain and Shaun Roe have formed a committee to reach out to the public and promote the bond issue. They are joined by longtime former district treasurer Janet Hissrich, as well as several teachers and community members.
Roe said they are focusing on reaching members of the public who cannot attend meetings. Roe has produced several YouTube videos and shared them on the Union Local Facebook page.
“When people go to the polls, we want them to be as informed as possible,” he said. “We want to be as transparent as possible.”
Roe said they focus on subjects such as infrastructure.
“In this bond issue, there’s a lot of attention to the infrastructure, but more importantly infrastructure as it relates to education,” Roe said, adding that planning began in 2017 under then-superintendent Ben Porter. “How does our facilities enhance our education? Education’s always got to come first.”
He referred to interviews with teachers, who said the infrastructure issues in their rooms create learning difficulties. He also touched on security and integrating technology.
“All those things are paramount of education,” Roe said.
Cain added the public response has been positive.
“They understand that the future of our students and the community’s a good school,” he said. “If we keep putting these issues off and don’t address these needs now, they just continue to get more expensive in the future.”
