Volunteers supporting Cincinnati schools' bond-issue campaign for school construction rallied, danced, sang, ate cookies and passed out hundreds of yard signs Thursday.

Alton Frailey speaks at the bond-issue rally Thursday. (Brandi Stafford photo) | ZOOM |

        The kick-off for the campaign also saw the first appearance by Cincinnati's new superintendent, Alton Frailey, a Texan who comes to Cincinnati from a 32,000-student suburban Houston district.

        Mr. Frailey is not officially on the job until November, but he said when he was named superintendent Sept. 6 that he would make appearances in Cincinnati before the Nov. 5 bond-issue vote.

        “This is a major milestone to get to where you are,” Mr. Frailey said to about 150 people gathered in a parking lot off Reading Road. “I want you to know that I am totally committed to doing all that I possibly can — and then some — to help make this a successful campaign.”

        The $480 million bond issue would help finance the largest school construction project in city history — a $1 billion project to build 35 new schools and renovate 31 others over the next decade. School officials will ask voters to approve a 4.89-mill bond issue to help finance the project's four phases.

        Cost on a $100,000 market-value home would be an additional $143 annually.

        The state will contribute more than $200 million toward the $1 billion project if the school district can raise the rest.

        Sue Taylor, president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers union, also addressed the crowd.

        “No one knows better than the actual students and the teachers of the district the conditions that we face in trying to educate our students,” she said. The seven-member board of the anti-tax group Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes has unanimously voted to oppose the bond issue.

Health shock: Cost of benefits shoots up
Cinergy farewell begins tonight
City's been swept and dusted
Ky.'s CATS measures thinking skill
CATS Performance Levels at a Glance
Latonia to get special state aid
Parents' questions about school testing in Ky.
Preparation paid off for high-achieving Ludlow
Three Kenton schools slide on tests
Writing remains weak area, tests show
Wrongly convicted given hope
Tristate innocence projects
Bank robbery suspects caught in Latonia
Black lawyers honor several
Class focus: War scenarios
CPS launches quest for $480M in bonds
Implant to improve vision being tried here
'Smart growth' group sounds alarm
Tristate A.M. Report
UC doctor's research links gene, colon cancer
BRONSON: Officer Jorg
SMITH AMOS: Officer Roach's trial
WELLS: The next assistant chief
Apartment residents say violence must end
Balloons give first-graders flying lessons
Lawmakers answer Vail students' questions
Rumpke driver charged in crash
Lawyer must testify about Erica Baker
Ohio colleges want $765M more
Ohio workers' comp suits may become $50M liability
Cincinnati lawyer to defend Patton