More than half of parents, teachers and city residents recently surveyed by Cincinnati Public Schools say they would support a bond issue to help rebuild the city's crumbling public schools.

        The district Monday released survey results from its first six public forums on its proposed $1 billion school rebuilding plan. Of those polled, 206 of 369 respondents said they would support such a bond issue.

        Some residents, though, question whether the information from the unscientific surveys will be useful.

        “It's not good market research,” said George Roden, a Clifton resident who is also a downtown architect specializing in school facilities planning. “The expectation is we will have better schools. The ambition is that we will have the best schools. There is no reason not to have the best planning.

        “We should be using a process that not only involves as many people as possible but is representative of the community,” Mr. Roden said.

        Last weekend, Mr. Roden received the results of a survey taken at the first of 12 public forums the school district is holding to inform the public and gather input on the facilities proposal. The proposed plan includes building 34 new buildings, renovating 32 schools and closing more than 20 buildings over the next decade.

        The surveys are conducted at each public forum by DeJong & Associates Inc., a Dublin, Ohio-based consulting firm for school facilities planning. Those who attend are polled.

        Tracy Richter, a DeJong Project Planner working with the district on the facilities plan, said though the surveys are not conducted scientifically, they will be useful.

        “The intention is information gathering,” Mr. Richter said.

        He said the public's written commentary will help district officials make decisions about when a building should be renovated or replaced and where students should be housed as buildings are being refurbished.

        “The community knows the buildings so much better than we do,” he said.

        An updated plan will be presented to the board of education March 20.

        Kent Cashell, the district's business executive, said community input cannot affect the outcome of some aspects of the rebuilding project, such as the minimum square footage of classrooms and whether the buildings have air-conditioning.

        Those and other design requirements are spelled out in a design manual created by the Ohio School Facilities Commission, a state agency overseeing school building projects across Ohio.

        For Cincinnati to receive around $200 million in state aid for the project, the district must adhere to certain state requirements for school building construction.

        To receive a survey, call 475-7001.

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