Columbia Schools highlight need for bond issue, building expansions during community meeting

COLUMBIA TWP. — Dozens of parents and community members filed through the gym at Columbia High School to learn more on the proposed additions and renovations throughout its school buildings. Columbia Schools has a $38.5 million bond issue on the November ballot, with plans to renovate and add onto the high school and do the same at its kindergarten through eighth-grade building. The plan includes building a two-story athletic complex. The expansions at Columbia's two buildings comes as its enrollment, and the community, continues to grow. Superintendent Graig Bansek previously told The Chronicle-Telegram that the district has turned closets into office space to meet its students' needs. The additions would be able to support Columbia's forecast additional class sizes for years to come, he said during the meeting when the Board of Education voted in July to put the issue on the ballot. The issue is a 4.88-mill, 37-year school improvement bond. It would cost the owner of a $100,000 home $170 per year, Treasurer Patricia Eddy said on Wednesday. It is joined by a 2-mill, five-year renewal levy that generates about $450,000 per year for the district to cover capital improvements to schools, grounds and long-term needs. That 2-mill levy costs the owner of a $100,000 home about $51 per year. Neither issue would be used for personnel costs. Staff from the district and FMD Architect — the firm that designed the proposed expansion — gave brief presentations on security features, building layout, costs to taxpayers and other concerns. The presentation was broken up into eight different stations spread throughout the gym, with groups of parents and community members moving between them in eight-minute increments. Unanswered questions were gathered by Citizens for Schools committee members and will be posted with answers on the bond and levy issues' website, citizensforschools.com. The two-story athletic complex is proposed to be built at the conjoined Copopa Elementary and Columbia Middle School building, able to seat about 900 fans and serve as a districtwide gym and community space with a separate entrance from the school for use during nonschool hours. Included in the proposed 33,725-square-foot facility is a 2,000-square-foot community event space. Parent Stephani Hulex and her second grade daughter Rosalyn, 7, listened intently at several of the stations. Hulec liked the proposed athletic facility as her children are active in sports and felt the expansion was necessary. Copopa and the middle school would also see seven new classrooms, three new music rooms and a 4,750-square-foot cafeteria. Director of Curriculum Carrie Atkinson, alongside kindergarten teacher Katie Ondrejko and Director of Special Education and Preschool Jamie Maassen, highlighted what the additional space could mean for children and staff at Copopa and the middle school. They said they look forward to the relocation of the music rooms, as band is currently across the hall from third-grade classrooms, and the addition of another cafeteria to keep classes separated. The plan also calls for new playground equipment for the middle and elementary students built away from the roadway. At the high school, the plan includes a 4,300-square-foot addition for a new stage for the fine arts department, six new classrooms and the existing gym turned into a multipurpose facility. There would also be a secure entrance and vestibule at the high school, allowing for visitors to check in at the office before being allowed in the rest of the building. Eddy said the district's first bond was in 1968, and its second was in 2011 — when the last major renovations were done to its buildings. It has not asked for new operating money since 2013, she said, when it passed a 5.5-mill issue. She also said the average 30 percent increase in property values in Columbia Township will not cause an across-the-board jump in revenue for the district. The only increase homeowners — and the district — will see is on its 5.1-mill of inside millage. Inside millage is not voted on like a levy or bond, but provided by the state constitution. It is divided among the school district, cities, counties and other local governments. The owner of a $350,000 home now pays $625 per year for inside millage, she said. Starting next year, they would pay $812 if their property value increased by 30 percent. Other levies — like the proposed bond issue — do not see a jump in taxpayer costs when home values change. For more information about the district's bond issue, visit citizensforschools.com. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.