Beavercreek bond issue reappears on May ballot

Yahoo

28-04-2025

BEAVERCREEK, Ohio (WDTN) — The Beavercreek City School District is asking voters for the second time to pass a bond issue on Election Day next Tuesday.
If it passes, funds generated will help build a new high school, something that school officials say would help address a major increase in student enrollment after several years of steadily increasing numbers.
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One local resident agrees with school officials, saying the time to pass this bond issue is now. 'I think it's needed, so therefore, it's going to continue to come up,' said Kees Vandersluijs, Beavercreek resident.
The 4.9 mill bond issue would cost local homeowners $172 annually for each $100,000 of appraised real estate value. These funds would be used to build a new high school.
The issue was rejected by voters last November, but Beavercreek Superintendent Paul Otten says local school officials want to try again for the sake of the students in the district.
2 NEWS spoke with several Beavercreek residents who were not in support of the issue, citing the cost as their main concern. Those residents did not wish to be on camera.
One resident, Vandersluijs, says voters should consider how this one local bond issue would benefit students, going on to say that students deserve up-to-date facilities.
'You just think that overall it's going to be better for the community to have somethingm and that the kids have more up-to-date equipment,' said Vandersluijs. 'Because it's not just a matter of getting the high school, it's the upgrade of all the other schools, too.'
According to the school district, they have already surpassed their projected numbers for student enrollment for the upcoming school year — and now they are preparing for how they will manage even more students if the bond issue fails again.
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The district currently uses portable classrooms that can cost nearly $300,000 to rent annually, but the superintendent says they are a temporary and costly solution. Otten adds that they fail to address other logistics like limited cafeteria space, how student's schedules are designed and other infrastructure in the buildings. 'It becomes problematic because we can't just keep adding portables. We need to come up with something that not only addresses the need now, but we don't want to come back to our voters in ten years. We want something that will stand the test of time,' said Otten.
The bond issue would provide funds for a new high school to be opened for students in the 2029-30 school year.
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