CANFIELD, Ohio (WKBN) — At Wednesday’s meeting the Canfield School Board made no commitments on how it plans to move forward now that a bond issue to replace and repair the school buildings has been voted down for a third time.
All five board members spoke at the meeting. A couple of ideas were suggested but no firm proposals were brought before the board to be voted on.
President Nader Atway said he spent election day questioning people as they voted.
“The majority of the community was in agreement and alignment that the middle school is our biggest priority and needs immediate attention. Even after the loss, I still believe the middle school is a non-negotiable and a new building is a must,” Atway said.
He also said the people voting no said they are being taxed enough, that the board needs to find a different source of funding, and the board shouldn’t have allowed the schools to get in bad shape in the first place.
Board member Betsy Ahlquist suggested possibly asking for a one percent income tax increase but Superintendent Joe Knoll said that wouldn’t work for a bond issue because of the loan needed to build and repair buildings.
“When you do an income tax, as you know it, it could go up or down. You can’t get into a bond project because of that. When you do a property tax, you get the money you need and you’re done,” Knoll said.
“It requires a sacrifice, a sacrifice, a financial sacrifice,” said board member Matt Campbell.
Campbell said people want to experience the greatness of Canfield, including the education but they don’t want to pony up. He said building a new middle school is not going to get cheaper.
Board member Traci DeCapua said the Canfield Community is fractured and broken after three tries.
DeCapua says there needs to be a healing process before they can move on.
The Canfield School Board spent about 30 minutes discussing the bond issue. At the end, it was suggested a separate work session be held to more thoroughly discuss what comes next.
