This plan was developed as part of Pickerington’s Plan for Progress, a plan that was created with the help of hundreds of staff and community members. It’s the community’s plan for the future. It lays out what the district must continue to do to remain on a path to providing an excellent education for each student. It reflects resident and staff input and priorities and is focused on our three main goals: academic excellence, modern facilities, and efficient operations.

The new junior high will be constructed on the approximately 66-acre parcel of land owned by the district on Lockville Road, south of Opportunity Way and adjacent to the Pickerington High School Central campus. Ridgeview STEM Junior High will be repurposed into a facility holding a separate kindergarten through fourth grade elementary school and a fifth and sixth grade middle school. Note that we gain an eighth elementary school and a fourth middle school!

Secure vestibules (entryways) and classroom space will be added at Pickerington High School North and Pickerington High School Central, while extra seating will be added in the cafeteria at Pickerington High School Central.

Pickerington Schools believes that there are several reasons why a third high school is not the best option for now:

• A new high school does not address the need for room at all levels of the district. Our plan will do the following:
  • build a new junior high;
  • renovate Ridgeview to become our 8th elementary and our 4th middle school;
  • purchase Yarmouth for a preschool with an anticipated 20 classrooms;
  • allow former preschool classrooms at Pickerington Elementary, Sycamore Creek Elementary, Tussing Elementary and Violet Elementary to be returned to kindergarten through fourth grade use;
  • and adds 24 classes at Central and 18 at North.

This addresses our needs in grades pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, whereas a new high school only creates room at the high school level–if we built a high school, that would essentially be all we could afford to do.

• Pickerington High School North is about 313,000 square feet. Current construction costs for new K-12 facilities are around $400/square foot. So a new high school alone would cost around $125 million to $150 million by itself. That’s probably conservative for a high school facility with current construction and supply chain issues.

Pickerington Schools does not believe our community would support that much new debt–we’ve already failed a $95 million bond issue twice. We believe it is far more prudent, efficient and fiscally responsible to seek the $89.930 million bond issue that impacts all levels, not just high schools.

• Pickerington Schools has survey data to support the fact that, for the most part, our community is not ready for a third high school. This item is more about subjective preference or ‘feel,’ as moving to a third high school is regarded as a ‘watershed’ moment when our community will ‘feel’ large — like a Westerville, Hilliard, Dublin, etc.  Many still regard Pickerington as having a smaller feel to it, and a third high school would disrupt that.

And finally, a very pragmatic reason–we don’t currently own any land that is big enough for a high school and its associated campus. We would need at least 120-150 acres (North sits on about 158 acres). McGill is about 66 acres, and it would be rather odd to put a high school on that site anyway, given the proximity to Central.

District leadership needs to discuss where a third high school would even make sense based on the analysis of student growth patterns, and other factors like needed infrastructure (roads, utilities, etc.), proximity to other schools, future residential/commercial growth, etc. A parcel or parcels must then be identified that have the features needed, and we must procure the capital needed to purchase it.  Proceeds from the bond issue can be used for land, but we’re not ready at this time to identify a future high school site.

The premise of the current plan is to address the current crowding without building a new high school.

The plan adds 24 classrooms to Pickwerington High School Central. This will expand Central’s capacity by up to 720 students, or to nearly 2300 students total. It also expands Pickereington High School North by 18 classrooms or about 540 students. North’s new building capacity would be around 2400 students. With those new capacities and our projected enrollments, we don’t see North or Central being too full thru the 2029-30 school year (see chart below).

Pickerington Schools has not asked for new operating funds since August of 2011. Our current forecast shows that we should have adequate reserves at least through the 2023-24 school year.

The five year forecast plans for growth in students and staffing already, regardless of whether the current bond issue passes. Consequently, the current five-year forecast is currently showing that by the end of the 2023-24 school year, we will have potentially stretched our operating dollars as far as we can.

The district is forecasting the need for an operating levy, most likely by Spring 2024-Fall 2024.  By that point, we will have made our last operating levy last for nearly 15 years, showing our commitment to meeting the needs of our students, families and community in fiscally responsible ways.

As property values increase, voted millage rates are decreased so that school districts don't collect any additional money on voted millage due to inflation. Over time, millage rates could be reduced to near zero. To keep this from happening, Ohio law establishes a minimum millage level, or floor, that millage rates cannot fall below. This minimum level is 20 mills. Once a district's total millage is reduced to 20 mills, it cannot be reduced any further, hence the 20 mill floor.

A bond levy is a levy that allows the district to issue debt to build or improve buildings. It is a "bricks and mortar" levy. Bond levies cannot be used to pay staff or utilities or any other operating expenses. Bond levies are used to build buildings but cannot be used to operate new buildings. Bond issues cannot pay for ongoing maintenance.

Effective millage is the millage rate that is currently levied on property. Once a levy is voted in, a school district cannot collect any additional money due to valuation increases from reappraisal or triennial updates on that levy. As property values increase, the millage rate on that voted levy is decreased so that the levy generates the same amount of money. This reduced millage rate is referred to as effective millage. The only way school districts get any additional money on voted millage is from new construction or from having their millage reduced to the minimum amount allowed by law (20 mill floor).

The homestead exemption allows senior citizens whose Ohio adjusted gross income is less than $30,000 to reduce their property taxes by exempting $25,000 of the market value of their home from all local property taxes. The limiting income provision applies only to homeowners who turn 65 beginning in 2014. No homeowner who currently qualifies for the exemption will lose it. To qualify, an Ohio resident must be at least 65 years old or be totally and permanently disabled and own and occupy a home as their principal place of residence. For individuals who own more than one home, the principal place of residence is the home where the person is registered to vote and the person's place of residence for income tax purposes. Applications for the exemptions are available at the county auditor's office.

During the 1970s, property values were increasing at a very high rate. In 1976, the Ohio Legislature enacted House Bill 920. This bill effectively freezes all voted real estate millage at the dollar amount collected the first year the millage went into effect. As property values rise through reappraisal or triennial updates, the outside millage is reduced. In simple terms, the amount of money a school district collects from a levy does not increase as property values increase.