Miami University alumna Kim Eichold tutors English as a Second Language at Fairfield Central Elementary, one of two schools in the Fairfield School District that would have been slated for demolition had the district's levy passed in last week's election. Instead, both Fairfield and Middletown City Schools' bonds were turned down at the ballot box. The demolition has been put off.
"[Students] deserve to learn in an environment that isn't full of asbestos and mold," Eichold said, lamenting the bond's failure.
Miami junior Lauren Scott currently student-teaches at Fairfield Central Elementary.
Projected to raise $61 million and grant access to $19 million in state funding, the bond would have replaced Central Elementary, which has been in operation since 1929, as well as the Fairfield Freshman School, built in the early 1950's, according to Scott.
"Fairfield Central Elementary doesn't have air conditioning, and it's really miserable," Scott said.
While she was never a Fairfield resident, Scott said she was in favor of the bond.
According to Scott, while some may argue that the existing building simply be outfitted with air conditioning, Fairfield staff were told in a recent meeting that to do so would be more expensive than to build a new school.
"As a Miami alumna and employee of the Fairfield School District, I am affected as I see children sitting in classrooms that are 96 degrees and struggling to hear their teachers over the six fans in the classroom blowing around hot air," Eichold said.
The bond would have cost a household valued at $100,000 about $91.70 per year. The decision about the levy divided the city during a time when people are tightening their already tight budgets, according to Fairfield City School Districts website.
Another local school district, Middletown City Schools, also had a bond fail that was intended to replace their 90-year-old middle school.
From Cleveland's Westlake School District, which now faces cuts in art programs as well as in honors and Advanced Placement classes, to Columbus's Westerville School District, that will soon have cuts in sports programs and teacher positions, districts across the state are deciding how they will tighten their budgets and hold on until another levy or bond may be put on the ballot, according to NPR State Impact's website.
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Out of the 193 school districts in Ohio that had bonds, levies or a combination of the two on the recent ballot, 116 saw success. Lakota School District was one of those winning districts.
"If the [Lakota] levy didn't pass, more teachers would have been laid off, all of the busing would have been cut and students wouldn't have the opportunity to take music, art and Advanced Placement classes," Miami junior Phu Nguyen, a Lakota West graduate, said.
Lakota's successful levy prevented such cuts.
"We have been in a tight financial situation, and all of a sudden you realize that the wheel is about to fall off the cart," Lakota School Board President Joan Powell said. "This is not a mandate by any means. It was a tight vote, which shows that we have work to do."
The levy combination passed by less than 1 percent of the vote, according to the Butler County Board of Elections.
As families continue to be strict with their budgets, decisions and opinions regarding where money needs to be spent will only become more difficult.
"We most likely will have another bond on the ballot in May," Middletown School Board president Marcia Andrew said. "We are holding back the kids if we can't provide an educational environment for them to graduate competitively."
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