By Michael D. Clark
The Cincinnati Enquirer

MADEIRA - This tiny Hamilton County school system has only three school buildings, and district officials say those are no longer large enough to maintain a "world class education."

In a unanimous vote Monday evening the Madeira Board of Education approved putting a 6.87-mill bond issue on the March 2 ballot that would raise $28 million for two new schools and the expansion of Madeira High School.

Board president John Gilster said the three aging schools - Dumont Primary, Sellman Middle School and Madeira High School - have long been too cramped to accommodate the technology and classroom space needed to deliver a high level of educational instruction.

Gilster said continuing to jam the district's 1,500 students into the schools - the newest being the high school (built in 1957) and the oldest Sellman (built in 1937) - "threatens to undermine our success."

The district has consistently earned the state's top academic rating of "excellent."

Stephen Kramer, Madeira superintendent, told the board before its vote that increasing state and national education standards, such as President Bush's No Child Left Behind education act, require more modern classroom facilities than currently available in the district.

The proposed tax increase, which would cost the owner of a $100,000 home an additional $240 annually, is the first school tax issue put before residents since 2000, when an operating levy was approved. It's the first bond issue for raising money for the district's buildings since voters approved a $5.9 million tax issue in 1996 for building repairs and renovations.

E-mail mclark@enquirer.com