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LEWIS CENTER, Ohio (WCMH) — A levy to fund the construction of five new schools will be on Olentangy Schools residents’ ballots in March.
The district announced Tuesday that residents will vote on a combined 4.25-mill levy to build three elementary schools, a middle school and high school. Citing rapidly increasing enrollment — with projections that the district size will increase by 5,000 students in the next decade — the district estimates the levies will bring in $28.9 million each year.
Voters will be asked to approve a 3-mill operating levy and 1.25-mill permanent improvement levy, while the district would also be able to recoup $350 million in bonds at no additional millage. The district warned that without the new schools, it may have to supplement overcrowded elementary schools with modular classrooms by 2027.
Olentangy Schools Treasurer Ryan Jenkins estimates the combined levy will add $148.75 annually in taxes for each $100,000 of a home’s appraised value. Properties are appraised at 35% of their actual value; a property with an appraised value of $100,000 is worth about $285,714.
The schools to be built include:
- An elementary school on Bean Oller Road, west of Sawmill Parkway, expected to be completed by the 2025-26 school year
- An elementary school on land next to Berkshire Middle School, expected to be completed by the 2025-26 school year
- A high school on Bunty Station Road, west of Sawmill Parkway, expected to be completed by the 2027-28 school year
- An elementary and middle school, to be tentatively located on Curve Road north of Berlin High School, slated for opening by the 2028-29 school year
Olentangy Schools residents will vote on the levies and bond issue on March 19. The deadline to register to vote in the March primary election is Feb. 2. Absentee and early in-person voting begins Feb 21.
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