By Erica Solvig
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DEERFIELD TWP. - It was a discussion of needs versus wants for many parents who attended the first meeting set aside to answer the public's questions about Kings Local Schools' proposed $43 million building renovation and expansion plan.

Roughly 100 people attended the Wednesday night meeting to talk about the project, which requires passage of a 4.5-mill bond issue for funding. The plan would nearly double the size of Kings High School and add about 29,000 square feet to the junior high.

Several people wondered if the price was excessive, and asked if the plan could be scaled down.

"My biggest concern is that $43 million is a huge number," said Melissa Harsnett, a mother of two. "I think we need to have a lot of things. But how much do we need to have at this point?"

The plan, prepared by Mason-based Voorhis Slone Welsh & Crossland Architects, includes additional classrooms and storage space, and enlarges the athletics, performing arts, food service and parking areas at both schools.

The junior high would be configured around the current team-teaching concept.

The high school would have a 1,000-seat auditorium and 1,700-seat gymnasium. Plans also call for leveling the current auditorium floor and making it into the high school cafeteria, attached to a kitchen that would serve both schools.

"I think this is a lovely auditorium," said Kim Grant, who is part of Kings Parents for Education, recently formed out of concern about district spending. "In an economy like this, throwing away an auditorium like this is a want, not a need."

Others - like Dan Weed of Hamilton Township - spoke in support of the plan. He said teachers should not have to be without classrooms, as some are.

"Teachers are, obviously to me, the stabilizing factor in all of this," the father of three said. "Looking at the pictures, it's an atrocious situation to work in. Imagine being a business person working in a condition like this and trying to serve your customers."

District officials have said the plan is needed to keep up with the growth needs. The high school has jumped from 540 to 954 pupils since it opened in 1989. Junior high enrollment has increased from 370 to 613 students.

But some residents were worried about the projected deficit by 2006. District treasurer Michael Mowery said many area schools are in similar situations, and another operating levy is likely, but no sooner than 2006.

"Remember, I'm a taxpayer too," board member Hale Husband said to the crowd Wednesday. "I'm as concerned as anyone about the cost and the economy. The questions you're asking are the same ones we already have."

In January, the district hosted a meeting to explain the plan, but was criticized afterward by residents who wanted a public answer session.

Voters will make their decision on the 28-year, 4.5-mill bond issue in May. If passed, it would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $138 a year.

E-mail esolvig@enquirer.com