Groveport Madison board approves placing $78.3 million bond issue on May ballot after debate over outreach and siting

The Groveport Madison Local School district board voted to place a proposed $78,305,000 bond issue on the May ballot after extended debate over community outreach and school siting.

The measure, presented by district staff as a bond to fund construction, renovation and equipment costs, would finance three new grades 5–8 middle schools, work at Groveport Madison High School and districtwide improvements. The board recorded the motion to place the bond on the ballot and, after roll call, the motion passed.

Board members said the proposal did not reflect what some residents expected and questioned whether the district had adequately sought public input. One trustee said parents and neighbors around one proposed site opposed locating a school there; another asked whether lower-cost configurations with transportation savings had been fully evaluated. Trustees also referenced requests for documentation of outreach, including a claim that roughly 9,000 emails had been sent in a prior outreach process but not provided to some board members.

District staff and the treasurer presented the financial terms the board used in its discussion. The bond was described as carrying a tax rate of 2.33 mills. Using the district’s assessed-value figure cited by staff, the district estimated the annual cost at about $135.34 for a homeowner with a $166,000 assessed value and about $81.55 for a $100,000 assessed value. Staff clarified that the assessed value figure referenced is a local assessed value used for tax calculations, not the typical real-estate sale price reported by realtors.

Supporters on the board said communications and a finance-committee report showed outreach metrics (open rates and report summaries) and that the district had held multiple public meetings. Opponents argued the meetings and communications did not constitute adequate outreach in certain neighborhoods and urged the district to return to planning and further community engagement before presenting a final plan to voters.

At roll call on the bond motion the recorded votes were: John Kirschner — No; Latoya Doudlberger — Aye; Seth Bauer — Aye; Kathy Walsh — No. The motion was recorded as passing. The transcript did not specify how other board members voted in that roll call sequence.

The board discussed next steps briefly at the meeting, including that the election would be a regular May election (not a special election) and so the district will not incur the higher costs associated with a special election. Several trustees asked staff to make outreach reports and the communications plan available for board review ahead of further decisions.

The board handled routine items and recognitions earlier in the meeting (school board recognition month and Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service). The bond levy discussion, public-comment concerns relayed by trustees and the recorded vote were the meeting’s primary substantive items related to district policy and finance.