District to apply for stimulus bonds
By Kevin Kelley
Westlake
Published June 24, 2009

The Westlake Board of Education’s decision to apply for stimulus bonds to pay for the construction of new school buildings means that voters may be asked to approve funding of the construction this November.

The school board voted unanimously June 15 to apply for $20 million in Qualified School Construction Bonds. These bonds were authorized as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, commonly known as the economic stimulus package, that was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in February. Ohio has been allocated $267 million in these interest-free bonds.

While these bonds must be paid back, the fact that they are interest free means the district could save as much as $16 million in interest payments if an application is successful, Superintendent Dan Keenan said.

However, by law, the bonds must be distributed by the end of this year. That means that if the district is to participate in the bond program, the district must have both a firm capital improvement plan in place and voter approval for the funding at the November election.

The board’s decision last week to apply for the bonds does not commit the district to accepting them. The school board must make a decision by August on whether or not to go on the November ballot for a capital levy.

A committee comprised of representatives of the Ohio Schools Facility Commission (OSFC), the Office of Ohio Budget Management, the Ohio Department of Education and the state treasurer will review the applications. The final recommendation for the bonds will be made by the executive director of the OSFC.

Board members said they will decide whether to go to voters in November for a capital levy after learning whether their bond application was successful and, if so, how much in interest-free money they will receive.

Board member Tim Sullivan initially said he opposed a November vote due to the current economic climate.

However, Tom Mays said the best time to build such projects is during a bad economy because prices are very competitive.

“I truly don’t believe the economy will be the driving issue as to whether a bond or operating levy passes in Westlake,” Mays said at the meeting. Rather, he said, getting the best value for their dollars is what Westlake residents want. If the school facilities continue to deteriorate, Mays argued, Westlake parents will send their children to parochial schools or move out of the city, which will make property values decline.

Board President Andrea Rocco later told West Life that were it not for the potential benefit of the bond application, she would prefer to see the district go before voters in May. Superintendent Keenan and others also sited the amount of time, money and effort required to promote such a capital campaign and convince voters of the need for new school buildings.

In January, the 24-member 20/20 Vision Committee presented the school board with two options on how to address the district’s aging schools.

Option A is a single-phase project that would build a new high school and renovate and add on to the middle school. This plan would see the construction of two new elementary schools — one housing preschool through first grade and the other grades two and three.

Option B is also a single-phase project that would include a new high school and renovate and add on to the middle school. Three new elementary schools would be built under this plan; two would house kindergarten through grade three with the third housing preschool through grade three.

Both plans move the fourth graders to a newly constructed intermediate school and call for a new high school and a renovated middle school with additions. Both options are expected to cost around $100 to 120 million.

Last month, the district hired a team of architects and engineers led by MKC Associates to review the district’s intention to build four or five new schools.

Before its June 15 vote to apply for the bonds, board members also discussed splitting the single-phase project endorsed by the 20/20 Vision committee into two parts.

Splitting the project into two might be best given the economic climate and the difficulty of getting voter approval, the reasoning went.

Under such a split, the high school and middle school would be addressed first, with the decision on the elementary school configuration possibly put off until a later date, Keenan said.

Mays said splitting the project will cost more money over the long run.

After initially saying the district’s facilities problems might be addressable through a permanent improvement levy that would focus on renovations, Sullivan later said he believes the school buildings issue needs to be addressed. Sullivan said his concern was about timing, adding that he might support a split construction plan but couldn’t imagine backing a $100 million project.

Sullivan also expressed skepticism about the stimulus bonds, saying there has to be a catch. He said he was concerned that if the district accepts the stimulus bonds, it may be bound by requirements that construction workers be paid the prevailing union wage. Sullivan said he also worried that under some “buy American” clause the district might be forced to purchase American-made supplies and products.

Keenan said that district officials are in the process of nailing down such details regarding bond program requirements.

Previous West Life articles:

• Public forums to address aging school buildings (Sept. 17, 2008)
• Committee calls for new school buildings (Jan. 28, 2009)

• Westlake City Schools