WARSAW — The reconfiguration of River View Local Schools is yet to be decided, but will most likely include a new building for elementary students at some point and that will cost taxpayers money. However, over time the district would save money.
The administration began discussing the possibilities of consolidating students and closing buildings in December. At that time, a committee of 20 River View staff members and 20 community members began meeting to discuss various options to present to the board of education. They settled on four most viable options.
Two community meetings to explain the options and receive feedback have been held and the last meeting is planned at 6 p.m. March 15, at River View High School.
A more informal Coffee with Chuck will be at 6 p.m. March 3 at the Walhonding Valley Fire Department. It's an opportunity to ask questions regarding River View of Superintendent Chuck Rinkes.
The four options being considered are:
Option 1 - Build a new elementary building with inside millage.
Option 2 - Build a new elementary building with a bond issue.
Option 3 - Transition to one elementary building, moving grades four to six to the junior high and grades seven to 12 to the high school, with third grade in modular units.
Option 4 - Transition to one elementary building, moving grades four to six to the junior high and grades seven to 12 to the high school, with third grade in modular units. This option reassess consolidation and constructing a new elementary building in five years.
Rinkes said based on feedback so far, option one has the strongest support. This is followed by option four, then three and finally two. There is a community survey available on the district's website and those attending meetings can access it with a QR code from a handout. Rinkes said they've received more than 120 responses so far.
The board of education is targeted to consider a plan at its regular meeting on March 24. Due to time lines for advertising a public hearing for option one and other factors, Rinkes believes the board probably won't vote on the direction to go in until the April session.
"It's going to be a very hard decision for the board" Rinkes said. "At the end of the day, the five board members are going to be the ones to vote, but at the same time they also want to see and have a pulse on what our community is thinking."
River View has five buildings with all holding less students than they were designed to house.
The high school has 512 students, but can house 950. The junior high has 278 students, but can take 500. Warsaw Elementary has 455 students, Conesville has 330 and Keene has 134, about half of capacity.
Student enrollment for February was 1,778 students, down from 2,875 students in 2000.
The junior high is also the newest of all buildings, erected in 1980. The high school opened in 1965. Warsaw Elementary dates back to 1927, Conesville to 1916 and Keene to 1914. Rinkes said it's amazing to think they have two buildings operational during the last global pandemic, the Spanish Flu of 1918.
As a cost-cutting measure last school year, open enrollment ended at Keene, shifting approximately 50 students to other buildings or out of the district. This was part of a reduction plan following two failed attempts at an income tax levy for general operating expenses. It was estimated to generate about $2 million a year.
This was needed after the closure of the American Electric Power Plant in Conesville and loss of $2.2 million in tax revenue. The plan also included job cuts, pay freezes, elimination of classes and activity offerings, additional sports fees and an increase to class sizes.
Rinkes said pandemic funding has been helpful the past two school years, but it won't last forever. Consolidation is another cost-cutting measures as it will eliminate the number of buildings the district has to operate. It's estimated to save $450,000 a year. Rinkes said the buildings would be offered to local government entities first for public use and, if there is no interest, then sold at auction.
Rinkes said rural districts are growing enrollment by recruiting alumni to stay or return, open enrollment and offering more preschool options. He said River View also needs to offer more enrichment opportunities to all students and art at the elementary level, add a second ag teacher and eliminate pay-to-play fees.
All are tough to do with the current configuration and financial situation, he added. Obviously, less students mean less money from the state level. The district receives $7,120 per student.
Going to one elementary, whether it's a new building or funneling students to Warsaw which is the largest building, will offer consistent class sizes, more focus on developmental needs and better communication among teachers.
A new building would take about five years to construct. Rinkes said it would probably be somewhere behind the junior high building. In the meantime, option three would be instituted in shifting students and cutting structure costs heading into the 2023 to 2024 school year.
Rinkes said the consolidation might result in reduction of custodial and kitchen workers, because of less space to cover, but there wouldn't be any reduction in teachers to start. He said in talking to other districts, cutting teachers at the same time as consolidation usually leads to problems by not accounting for certain needs.
"Once we get into the new footprint and we see where we are heavy, we can start saving costs in those situations. Then you can start saving costs when someone retires or leaves the district, you look to see if you need to replace that person," Rinkes said.
With the district's inability to pass levies recently, Rinkes said the committee felt a bond issue had little chance of succeeding, not to mention the cost of running a levy campaign and it would extend the construction process by a year.
Using inside mills is shifting tax dollars the district already receives to pay off the debt of new construction. Rinkes said it hasn't been done in Coshocton County, but more than 100 school districts across Ohio have gone that route in the past, some multiple times.
"Levy and bond issues in our district have not been favorable. It's one of the reasons why we're even taking a look at the inside millage concept," Rinkes said. "I don't want to call it a desperate move, but when a school district starts taking a look at inside millage, they've pretty much exhausted all other options."
River View receives 4.3 mills of tax dollars a year assigned by the state, known as inside mills. Outside mills are levies voted on by the public and that represents 25.2 mills a year. One mill in the River View district is about $433,000 a year.
It's estimated a new preschool to third-grade building of approximately 70,000-square-feet to house 600 students would cost $23 million. The district would make annual payments of $1.19 million annually for 29 years on the debt. It would move 2.75 mills a year to the debt payment.
The Coshocton County auditor would then adjust the effective millage of operating levies to compensate. The effective mills is the number of mills needed to raise the same amount of money as initially voted. This means the owner of a $100,000 home in the River View district would pay $84.21 more a year than they do now.
"I want to be real clear that this is an extra tax. This is not, 'hey, we're just moving it and it's not extra money that you and I living in the school district are going to have to pay,'" Rinkes said. "Moving inside millage and a bond issue would be the same millage."
Rinkes said the district is not looking to work with the Ohio School Facilities Commission on the project as they would only get 15% of needed funding and there would be strings attached as to what the end result would need to be.
While the board of education could simply vote on the action it wants to take, Rinkes said it was important to present options to the community and receive feedback. He honestly admits the district has been slammed over the years for not communicating the best it could.
"The district has been accused of not being very transparent and the reason for that is we've just not talked a lot about the ways the people running the district and the board have tried to stretch every dollar we have," Rinkes said. "You need to know what your school district is doing for you, building that trust and closing that gap between what the school people are trying to do for your kids and what you think is going on. That needs to be the same thing."