Monroe leaders say new high school important for growth (Journal-News)
Monroe leaders say new high school important for growth (Journal-News)
Monroe Mayor Keith Funk said a “good school system” is paramount if this growing Butler County city wants to continue to attract residents and businesses.
Monroe voters will see a 3.49-mill tax bond issue on the November ballot to build a new, separate high school, but the proposed tax hike comes with a delayed-timing detail the Monroe school board hopes voters will appreciate.
A 3.5-mill bond issue that passed years ago and funded the building of a new school for grades 2-12 on Yankee Road is set to be paid off in 2029 and it would be replaced by the lower bond issue, Monroe Superintendent Robert Buskirk told City Council members at their Tuesday night meeting.
Monroe’s proposed 3.49 mill rate translates to $122 annually per $100,000 home, according to the district.
The need for a new high school on Yankee Road is due to the growing population of the Monroe Local Schools located in Butler and Warren counties, he said.
The district began working with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) nine years ago to address overcrowding in school buildings, officials said.
Earlier this year, the district was notified by the OFCC that it was eligible to participate in the Classroom Facilities Assistance Program (CFAP). This partnership provides Monroe with $25.3 million in state funding for the construction of a new school building, but is contingent upon the school district raising its local share through a ballot initiative, Buskirk said.
When the school on Yankee opened during the 2004-2005 year, the district had 1,500 students, Buskirk said. In the last 20 years, enrollment has nearly doubled to 2,900, according to the latest numbers from May 2024, he said.
Buskirk noted the district has recently seen its enrollment leveling off, though numerous residential subdivisions are planned in the city.
The need for a new high school is “real and will not go away,” he told council.
He said the district has repurposed existing spaces like gyms, media centers, meeting rooms and storage spaces. The Yankee Road building has a capacity of 1,800, but it houses more than 2,300 students, he said.
The new high school would be built somewhere on the 186 acres on Yankee Road, probably in the southeast corner now used for athletic practice fields, he said.
If the bond issue passes Buskirk said potential building plans would be shared with Monroe residents through numerous community meetings.
If the bond issue passes, and a new high school is opened, possible sometime during the 2027-28 school year, Buskirk said the building on Yankee Road would be used for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students. The district owns the primary school building at 225 Macready Ave., that was built in the late 1950s, and it could have several potential uses, he said.
If voters reject the bond issue, school officials said they will be forced to “begin implementing stop-gap measures that could include the addition of modular (portable) classrooms to address capacity and class size issues.”
Source: Rick McCrabb, Journal News
