BY CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LOVELAND -- Loveland school district residents will be asked to approve a $32 million bond issue in November for a new school and renovations to existing schools, with new art, music and science rooms.
The 5.17-mill bond issue would help the district handle enrollment that has been climbing steadily since 1993 and is expected to reach 4,250 students by 2006. Enrollment now is 3,850 students.
Two of the district's five schools are over capacity: Loveland Hurst Middle School and Lloyd Mann Primary School. Two more -- Loveland Miami Elementary School and Loveland Intermediate School -- are expected to fill up soon, said Superintendent Michael Cline. Loveland High School, built in 1992, is projected to be crowded by 2001.
Plans for the bond money -- which could be used only for construction -- will shift some grades to different buildings, but will keep the district's tradition of clustering grades rather than using neighborhood schools.
"The need is driven by the enrollment going up so rapidly, but the decisions are program driven," Mr. Cline said.
The district began planning the renovations last winter, with a facilities study and a series of community meetings.
"Everything (in the bond package) is based on what the community asked for," said Sue Peterson, chairman of the Citizens for Loveland City Schools committee.
The bond issue would cost the owner of a house with a market value of $100,000 an additional $158 per year in property taxes.
That amount could go down in future years because a new property appraisal likely will show significant growth in the district's tax base, Mr. Cline said.
That means there will be more people and businesses sharing the tax cost in the 10.6-square-mile district. The tax base is expected to grow by $200 million in assessed value by 2005, said Robert Giuffre, the district's treasurer.
Since 1991, when the district last passed a bond issue -- to pay for the new high school -- there has been a 260 percent increase in the tax base, Mr. Cline said.
With the current low interest rates, "this is a great time to invest," Mr. Cline said.
Loveland is in a "very competitive market with surrounding school districts," and needs to keep up its facilities and its good academic reputation, said Chuck Waple, treasurer of the district's pro-bond campaign and a former Loveland superintendent.
