BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — In November, Bowling Green voters will see a levy to build a new high school on the ballot for the fifth time. It would give the district $73 million for the construction.
Voters in Bowling Green denied the most recent levy just last year by 52-48%. Supporters of the levy say passing it is necessary to provide a more modern building for students, while opponents say the financial burden on taxpayers would be too high.
Brenda Fite is an alumna of Bowling Green High School. But since graduating, she has only seen pictures of what the school looks like. She attended a tour of the current high school on Wednesday that the district was offering to see what everyone was talking about.
"It looks dingy and rundown and I'm disappointed my son has to attend even a few years there," Fite said.
Dan Black, the principal of Bowling Green High School, led the tour. He said it's important for the community to see the current condition of the space "so the community can see what the challenges we have on a daily basis with our students and our teachers."
Ted Haselman, the district's recently-appointed superintendent, said a new high school is needed because fixing the current school's problems is becoming increasingly difficult.
"It's more reactionary now because of the age of the building," he said. "We have to wait for things to break and then we fix them because the items that are starting to fall apart are within the bones of the building."
These problems include pipes bursting and the boiler room causing steam to be released into the rest of the building. He also said the school has been dealing with a cockroach problem, but it's something that is being fixed.
"That's something we can fix, that should've been fixed a long time ago," Haselman said.
Right before the tour, the school board held a special meeting to go over the details of the new school.
Ryan Myers, the president of the district's school board, said the hopes for passing the levy on Nov. 7 are different than they have been in the past.
"We've heard gripes about particular people in the administration before," he said. "We have three different school board seats that are open this year. We've also heard there was a concern last time that there was not a clear plan."
He says the district has a plan this time, though: an extensive educational master plan from DLR Group, an architectural firm.
If the levy does go through, DLR Group says it could take up to three-and-a-half years before a new high school is ready.