BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — The Bowling Green City Schools Board of Education held a special workshop meeting Thursday night to discuss ideas to build a new high school building. This comes two months after the district's failure to pass a ballot issue that would have used bonds and income taxes to fund a new high school.
Superintendent Francis Scruci said a segment of the district's population is blocking any progress toward a new building.
"Until you get the community, the city, to control the city schools, this is going to be a recurring issue," he said.
Scruci said voters have made many excuses when opposing proposals for a new high school building to replace one that's become outdated and problematic.
Until last year, the building did not have air conditioning. Scruci said that in December, the building suffered significant water damage.
Board president Ryan Myers said the issue's failure in November was devastating.
"Obviously it was heart-breaking," Myers said. "It's not something that we can continue to push down the road. We know that. This is us trying to rebound."
The school board discussed what kind of proposal they think voters would approve, how long the project would take and how much it would cost. The board discussed whether or not to include a new high school building, new elementary buildings, a consolidated elementary or a combination in the new issue.
"We've talked before about state funding from (Ohio Facilities Construction Commission), looking at the way we finance the bond issue," Myers said. "I imagine all those things will get discussed."
Board member Ginny Stewart said, historically, the community hasn't been invested enough to move the issue forward.
"People didn't care enough to want to do anything," Stewart said.
But Myers said a new high school, or even elementary buildings, would be huge for the district.
"It's like our buildings are in hospice," Myers said. "To be able to pass something ... this needs to be a win for all of us."
Myers said he personally hoped for the issue to be on the November ballot. The board also discussed hopes that they could formally send a request for quotation following the next meeting scheduled for Jan. 17.