Thursday, March 11, 1999
Most local school districts too 'rich' for funds
Taft's proposal targets the poorest
BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE and DANA DiFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLUMBUS — Sycamore City Schools would love to get a share of the $400 million pot of money Gov. Bob Taft wants to set aside for school construction.
But like other school districts in Southwest Ohio, Sycamore won't qualify. Most area schools are too wealthy compared to poorer districts in other parts of the state.
Under the system state officials established to comply with court-ordered changes in the way public schools are funded, districts least able to finance repairs, renovations and new construction with locally raised taxes are first in line.
“We're so low on the priority list, we'll never see that money,” said Sycamore Superintendent Bruce Armstrong, whose district boasts some of the richest property values in the state.
Voters in the Sycamore City School District don't seem to mind. They approved a bond issue in November that will fund $45 million in renovations at the district's seven schools.
Although Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) and other area districts complain they are being denied needed funds for repairs and renovations, legislative leaders say they had no choice but to direct tax dollars
to poorer schools first.
When the Ohio Supreme Court struck down the state's school-funding system in March 1997, the 4-3 decision decried the abysmal condition of some buildings and ordered lawmakers to better finance construction and repair needs.
Many of the examples cited by justices who joined the majority opinion were of crumbling school buildings in Appalachia, where some students were learning in converted coal bins.
“We are struggling to figure out who gets what and how it will be spent,” said Senate President Richard Finan, R-
Evendale. “If we divert too much (to more wealthy schools), we have problems with the the court decision.”
It's unclear how many schools would be helped by the money Mr. Taft is proposing to spend. Nor is it certain legislators will go along with his plans to pay for more school construction by raiding a fund that finances individual tax cuts.
Even if the Republican-controlled General Assembly approves, it likely will be years before the money is seen in classrooms.
Lawmakers have set aside $1.2 billion for a commission created in 1997 to oversee school construction, but only $215 million has been spent so far.
Brent Zuch, spokesman for the Ohio School Facilities Commission, said the lag time can be attributed to the nature of the construction process. It can take about five years to plan, build and equip a new school, he said.
Funding generally is based on a ranking of school districts by property values and median income divided by the number of students. Lawmakers also set aside money for emergency repairs and for construction in the eight largest urban districts, including CPS.
Moving up the list from poorest to richest, the commission now is helping the state' 46th poorest school district. CPS is ranked 491st out of 611; Sycamore is 593rd.
“These problems have developed from years of neglect,” Mr. Zuch said. “To think we can fix them overnight is ludicrous.”
School officials say the state isn't doing enough.
With CPS facing an estimated $700 million in needed repairs, school officials are lobbying legislators to change the way the state awards construction funds. They contend downtown development makes the district appear wealthier than it is.
About 64 percent of the district's 47,200 students are below the poverty level, as measured by the federal free and reduced lunch program. Almost half of the district's school buildings are more than 50 years old, and the district hasn't had a major building project since the mid 1970s.
In an effort to loosen restrictions on state funding, CPS Superintendent Steven Adamowski planned to meet late Wednesday with other urban superintendents and Susan Tave Zelman, the state's new superintendent of public instruction.
“You have to be a very property-poor district to access a lot of that money,” said Mr. Adamowski, who will pitch his proposal to legislators today. “If it is the governor's intent to help cities in the state, then we need a different funding mechanism for city school districts.”
Many of CPS's 79 schools suffer from peeling paint, exposed wiring, leaky roofs, broken windows, crumbling walls, pockmarked pavement and other problems.
Lawmakers set aside $15 million for CPS but required urban districts to match the funding dollar for dollar. Facing $20 million in budget cuts, CPS so far has requested only $5 million in construction funds from the state.
“It's unhuman,” Jaime Bryant, a senior at Withrow High School, said of the building conditions at her school.
When it's cold, she wears her coat all day to stave off the chill from drafty doors and windows. When it rains, she has to jump over hallway puddles on her way to class. And when she visits the school's gym, she stays far away from the overhead running track, closed years ago because of to structural problems.
Mr. Finan isn't convinced. He contends many of the building problems cited in a study commissioned by CPS aren't life-threatening.
“There are a lot of people at home who have roofs that are leaking and they still sleep there every night,” Mr. Finan said.
While CPS and other districts wish the state would promise more money for their schools, others can't raise the local funds required to receive state aid.
In November, voters in the New Miami School District in Butler County rejected a bond issue that would have raised $2.1 million and leveraged about $6 million more from the state for renovations.
One of the state's poorest school districts, New Miami is ranked 53rd on the list state officials use to dole out construction funds. If the district doesn't win approval for the bond issue by October, it could lose the state's share.
“It shouldn't be that way,” said Superintendent Gene Troy. “The state of Ohio should evaluate every school building, and if it needs a new roof, the money should be there to pay for it. It shouldn't depend on a bond issue.”
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