LEBANON -- Mechanics for Lebanon City Schools last winter tried to schedule repairs on six 72- seat buses for warmer days. They didn't want to be changing tires or fixing brakes in the snow.
But there was a problem: The buses, bought in 1997 to handle the increased number of students, are 3 feet too long and don't fit in the garage. From a bus garage that's too small to kindergarten classrooms in a church, the Lebanon School District is trying to accommodate the area's meteoric growth. But it's coming too quickly.
In five years, the number of students has increased by about 1,000, up to 4,354 for the 1997-98 year. Further projections call for the school's population to double in the next decade.
"We can't control growth," Superintendent Robert Harvey said. "Our responsibility is when children show up at our door, we have to provide them with an education."
The problem is that the district needs more money to educate the growing number of students, and taxpayers on three occasions have been unwilling to pay for new buildings, renovations and additional staff to accommodate the increased population.
School taxes in the district are at 20 mills, meaning the owner of a $100,000 home pays $798 annually. The state average is 28.27 mills, according to Monica Zarichny, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Education.
Still, in May and November 1996, voters soundly defeated two bond issues for construction of an elementary school, high school and transportation garage.
Voters also turned down in May of this year a 2.6-mill permanent improvements levy that would not have raised taxes. This measure would have generated about $1 million a year to spend on building maintenance, sidewalk repairs and upgrading computers. The school board has until August to decide whether to place the levy back on the ballot this year.
Mr. Harvey expects that unless voters approve a levy within the next year, the school board will have to start making cuts in the 1999 budget, which could affect salaries or the purchase of new books.
Meanwhile, the district is doling out temporary fixes. Since Mr. Harvey came to the district in August 1995, he's added 52.5 teaching positions to handle the growth and bring class sizes to a teacher-to-student ratio of 1-to-25 in the elementary school and 1-to-26 in the high school, which still is above the state average of 1-to-21.
But adding staff without adding classrooms means about 15 teachers in the district don't have a classroom of their own. These teachers, including those in art and science, travel from room to room, packing and unpacking their materials for each instruction period.
The roving schedule means teachers do less hands-on activities, Mr. Harvey admits, and it takes away from instruction time. But there are few options.
The district has tried to create classroom space with the $300,000 purchase of the Nazarene Church at 645 Oak St. in 1997. By the first day of school, Aug. 24, the converted church will be home to five kindergarten classes. Within the year, the district hopes to open up more space at Berry Middle School by moving central offices from there to the church. The renovations are expected to cost another $300,000.
During breaks between classes at the high school, "It's not a nice sight," Mr. Harvey said.
In a building designed for 1,000 students and bulging with 1,200, students are shoulder to shoulder. There's not enough space in the library for kids to study and research, Mr. Harvey said, and sometimes students spend half of their 30-minute lunch in line. "We're trying to feed too many kids in too small of a place in too little of a time," he said.
Susan Richardson, a teacher at Louisa Wright Elementary School, predicts the biggest problems haven't hit yet.
"This year is going to be bad. And people keep moving in. They keep building subdivisions. And we just don't have the space," she said. "It's a fact that we're going to have to build a school. There's just no place for all these kids."
