By Erica Solvig
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DEERFIELD TWP. - Kings school board members are pushing ahead with plans for a $43 million renovation project to redesign and expand the high school and junior high for the growing southern Warren County district.

A handful of residents spoke Tuesday night against the project, and one spoke for it, before the board approved the plan and a resolution to ask the county auditor how many mills would be needed. If the board approves that amount - which district treasurer Michael Mowery estimated at 4.49 mills - at its February meeting, the proposal will go to the voters in May.

"The need is immediate," board president Konrad Kircher said, pointing to overcrowding and high growth at the Columbia Road buildings. The plan "addresses the big picture on fine arts, it addresses the big picture on athletics. But more importantly, it addresses the big picture on academics."

The plan, developed by Mason-based Voorhis Slone Welsh & Crossland Architects, would double the size of Kings High School and add 29,000 square feet to the junior high. Enrollment projections anticipate 1,094 students at the high school and 650 at the junior high by 2013.

"We're not anticipating this growth, we're already in it," superintendent David Query said. "I feel it's a step in the right direction for our students."

Not everybody agreed.

"As a taxpayer with three young children, I stand to benefit the most," said Toby Darkins of Deerfield Township, whose 7-year-old daughter attends J.F. Burns Elementary. "But the numbers don't support the growth rate. ... I would hate to see this district put all this money into bricks and mortar. There are better places we could put this money."

Other residents, including former school board member Del Landis, also spoke out against the project's multimillion-dollar price tag. Mr. Landis later said he is organizing a campaign opposing the plan.

The redesign and expansion would extend the high school to the north, adding a 1,700-seat gymnasium, 1,000-seat auditorium and other fine arts rooms. Plans call for a two-story academic wing to the west of the main corridor.

At the junior high, regular and special-use classrooms are configured around the existing team-teaching concept. Plans also call for new computer labs, a multipurpose room and larger music facilities.

Both schools also would see enlarged athletic, food service and parking areas. The district is still trying to acquire additional land from its neighbor, Paramount's Kings Island, for some of the practice fields.

A bond issue of 4.9 mills would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $138 annually.

"I am 73 years old. I am a widow," said Margaret Bengal, a Deerfield Township resident for nearly 13 years. "The idea of them building a palace, a Taj Mahal, with a 1,700-seat gymnasium is outrageous. ... There are a lot of people like me who can't afford more taxes."

E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com