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SALEM -- Several community members spoke out in favor of the recently proposed Salem Schools levy Monday during the BOE meeting.
Appearing on the May 2 special election ballot will be: Salem City School District, Bond Levy 2.98 Mills, 37 Years, $22,500,000, Tax Levy, Permanent Improvements, Additional, 0.50 Mills, $195,100.00.
Salem alumnus and parent Dr. Austin Frederickson thanked the school administration and board for all the work they do to ensure Salem students receive the highest quality education, and "for the leadership you've shown in proposing such an improvement to our city."
Frederickson said he was very strongly in favor of the proposed K-8 building, the construction, and that he had spoken with a number of people throughout the community who shared his enthusiasm.
"I've been talking to so many community leaders, and proud parents, and a number of us are here tonight. Everybody is really excited to invest in the future of Salem, to invest in the community, and to invest in our kids. We know we have outstanding administrators, educators, nurses, coaches, we've got a really state-of-the-art team, if we can just build a state-of-the-art facility to educate our students in, with $33 million from the State of Ohio, we can educate in a safer, smarter and more sustainable school," said Frederickson.
Dr. Marshall Bahr, a father of four children in the district also spoke in favor of the levy. Bahr said that the significant development and reinvestment into the city of Salem over the last few years are indicative that people both within and outside of the community see the value in Salem and understand that it is time to invest in the future of the community.
"Over the last two years, I have seen a robust development of business coming into Salem, new buildings, and businesses going up downtown and around Salem. What that tells me is that there are other people around me, and us as a community that see Salem, and see that the time is now to continue to build for our future. When the state of Ohio comes to us and says 'hey, we recognize you have some schools that are nearly 100 years old, we want to give you nearly $38 million in funding to potentially build a new K-8 building' how do we pass that up? I don't think we'll ever have an opportunity like this again," said Bahr.
Bahr said that the levy represented "a sense of urgency" to him and that he felt the time to capitalize on that opportunity was now. Bahr also said that having lived in a number of different states through his life that one of his primary concerns when choosing a place to live is always the quality of the local school system, and that the construction of a new school could attract young families to the area and promote economic growth in doing so.
"One of the most important things we look at when considering moving into a city is how are the schools, not only the academics, but how are the facilities? How is the infrastructure? What are the resources for the students? Are they going to get hot lunches? How is the safety and security? If I'm going to send my kid to school for 78 hours, I want to make sure that they're going to be safe, and I think that this levy presents the opportunity to make something that's going to be like that, and I'm not the only young parent that feels that way," said Bahr.
Bahr also said that further information regarding the levy, as well as surveys could be found on a Facebook page titled "Salem City Schools Levy" organized by the Salem Schools First PAC.
Jeremy Corbisello joked that while he was in many ways on the "opposite end of the spectrum" from Bahr and Frederickson, as all of his children had already graduated from Salem schools, he also was strongly in support of the levy. A resident for 22 years, Corbisello said that his family chose to set roots in the area was due to the Salem community, and that he had asked his children what they most valued from their time in Salem Schools.
"I called them personally, I have Jackson who's 22 and will be graduating from Ohio State University at the end of the year, and Wilson who's 20, and in his second year at YSU. I said, I could tell you all day long the great things I see and value in Salem City Schools, because I'm and educator by trade, but what did you value most? They talked about the people, and the teachers, and the relationships they built," said Corbisello.
Corbisello pointed out that while it is these relationships with the staff at the school that impacted his children the most, that attracting high quality educators and administrators requires high quality teaching environments. Corbisello said this was even more important than normal due to the ongoing educator shortage, and that it was crucial to be able to offer teaching environment comparable to other districts in the area.
"As an educator I can tell you there's an educator shortage right now and if we don't improve our facilities and compare with what other districts around us are doing by having new facilities, it's going to be very hard to attract and retain high quality teachers. So as a taxpayer with no children coming up through, I'm going to support the levy, and I encourage everyone that is invested in this community to do your research and do the same thing, because it is going to improve the climate for everyone," said Corbisello.
While only three people spoke, there were nearly twenty people in attendance in support of the levy.