By Cindy Kranz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Within five years, every Princeton elementary student will attend school in a new or renovated building.

Princeton City Schools' residents Tuesday voted on a school bond issue for the first time in 47 years and agreed to replace or fix eight elementary buildings. The vote on the $85 million bond issue was 3,875 to 3,096, or 56 percent to 44 percent .

Meanwhile, Mount Healthy residents turned down the district's fourth attempt for an operating levy in 20 months by a vote of 2,158 to 1,271, or 63 percent to 37 percent.

Milford Exempted Village School District voters narrowly approved a 5.9-mill operating levy by 5,011 to 4,679 votes, or 52 percent to 48 percent.

Princeton Superintendent Don Darby was jubilant over the results.

"This is the greatest thing that can happen for our kids. That's what it's been about all along, and the citizens have come through for them. I was cautiously optimistic these last few weeks. The reason I was so optimistic is we had such a great message, and the logic of doing this was just so clear."

The district now begins planning its new schools but won't break ground for a year.

"We're not going to do cookie-cutter schools,'' Darby said. "We're going to do schools that will blend in with the surrounding community."

Princeton's 2.84-mill bond issue will cost the owner of a $100,000 home an extra $87 a year in taxes.

Mount Healthy

At Mount Healthy, planning will be much more painful.

Nearly $1 million will be cut from the Mount Healthy City School District's budget now that voters turned down a 6.95-mill operating levy. The levy would have raised $2.2 million annually.

The district has already cut $1.1 million from its budget in the last 20 months. Busing for public and private high school students was cut Jan. 1. New cuts will include teachers, administrative staff and support staff, such as bus drivers, secretaries and a custodial position.

"Again, I was extremely disappointed," Superintendent David Horine said late Tuesday. "We're just going to have to go forth and make the budget reductions, which we announced. That's going to be unfortunate for our students, as well as their families, but at this point, we need to make sure we have a balanced budget for next year.

"It's going to make it extremely difficult to continue to provide high-quality education for kids."

Milford

Milford counted on its levy passing to maintain district programs and reduce class sizes in its four new elementary buildings, two of which will open this fall.

The levy will generate about $4.6 million per year. Part of the money will be used to hire teachers and support staff for the elementary buildings. The owner of a $100,000 home will pay an additional $206 in school taxes per year.

"This really will allow us to work awfully hard in the next six weeks in hiring the 19 professional staff members we will need to open the six elementary schools fully staffed and get the ninth-grade small-community initiative under way," Superintendent John Frye said.

Without the levy, the district would have made $3.1 million in cuts, including instructional and administration positions.

Butler County

A five-year permanent improvement levy in Fairfield to keep schools in good condition narrowly passed, 3,620 to 3,424 or 51 percent to 49 percent.The 2-mill levy will generate $2.5 million each of the next five years, allowing the district to repair and add safety features to its 10 schools.

Warren County

• Kings Schools voters rejected a $43 million bond issue, 2,581 to1,647, or 61 percent to 39 percent. The 4.5-mill issue would have funded a renovation and expansion plan for the junior and senior high schools.

• Carlisle Schools voters approved by eight votes, 744 to 736, a 1 percent income tax to generate $1.4 million a year for operations. It is the first income tax for schools to pass in Warren County.

• Franklin Schools voters rejected a $16.7 million bond issue, 1,201 to 1,052, or 53 percent to 47 percent.

• In Wayne Schools, a 10-mill emergency levy lost by two votes. The five-year levy went down to defeat, 1,039 to 1,037. It would have replaced three expiring levies and added 4.85 mills, bringing the district a total of $1.5 million each of the next five years.

Erica Solvig and Sue Kiesewetter contributed to this report. E-mail ckranz@enquirer.com