Voters in the Nordonia Hills school district will get final say in 7.75-mill bond issue

Officials with the Nordonia Hills schools are hoping the district's voters will give the green light to an ambitious school construction project that will include three new school buildings for all of its students.

Voters will have a chance to decide on a 37-year, 7.75-mill bond issue which would raise $165 million over 37 years. The annual cost would be $271.26 for each $100,000 of valuation, said Superintendent Joe Clark. The issue will appear on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

If the bond issue passes, the plan is to construct one kindergarten through fourth-grade school building where Lee Eaton is now, which would replace Northfield Elementary, Rushwood and Ledgeview elementary schools. In addition, there would be a building for fifth through eighth grades and a new high school building, both constructed at the high school site.

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Clark said that if the bond issue passed, the first buildings could be operating by the 2026-27 school year.

"Most likely the middle school and elementary school will be built first," Clark said. "The high school should be done by the 2028-29 school year. It may be possible that students need to swing between buildings while the project is being completed."

Designs would be drafted later, "but families should expect buildings that have the latest safety and security features, flexible use of space, climate comfort — heat and air conditioning — and state-of-the-art technology," Clark said.

"A five-through-12 campus at the high school will allow us to share programming and resources," he said. "Going from six buildings to three will allow us to have more equitable class sizes and realize operational savings."

A big issue with the current schools is their age, Clark said.

"Nordonia schools are among the oldest in the region," Clark said. "Our buildings average 71 years old and range from 52 to 106 years old. Nordonia students deserve to go to school in comfortable, safe buildings suitable for 21st-century education. This project will set the standard for Nordonia education for the next 50 to 75 years."

The school board offices were constructed in 1916; they are part of the same building as Northfield Elementary School, which was built in 1963. The oldest school building is Nordonia Middle School, which was built in 1928 and served as the district's high school when it first opened. Lee Eaton, which is the school building for the district's fifth- and sixth-graders, was built in 1954. The high school was constructed in 1961 and Ledgeview Elementary in 1964. Rushwood Elementary, the newest building, was built in 1970.

A decision has not been made on what to do about the school board office, Clark said. One possibility is renovating a portion of one of the current buildings if new schools are built. What the district will do with its current buildings also has not been determined, although options could include selling them, demolishing them, or donating them to the communities in the school district, which includes Macedonia, Northfield, Northfield Center and Sagamore Hills.

If the bond issue does not pass, Clark said "the steering committee will reconvene to determine the next steps."

"This has been a community-led initiative," he said. "We are grateful to the steering committee for putting together such a wonderful plan."

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Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com 

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Nordonia Hills district voters will see 7.75-mill bond issue on ballot