An artist rendition of what the new consolidated school would look like for Belpre City Schools if voters approve the bond on the May 6 ballot. The football field and gymnasium can be seen in the back of the photo and would remain part of the facility. (Photo Provided)

BELPRE — The Belpre City School District is asking voters to approve a $45.7 million bond issue to construct a new, consolidated campus for grades 6-12, addressing decades of infrastructure challenges and providing modern learning spaces.

“I think the bond issue should be fairly familiar at this point to the residents of Belpre,” Superintendent Jeff Greenley said. “It’s the same configuration as prior levies. It’s the same square footage. The idea is to construct one campus on the current Belpre High School site.”

Greenley talked about the age of the current facilities including the Lawton building.

“The building was built in 1928 and will turn 100 years old soon,” Greenley said. “Even if the bond passes, it would make it to 100 years — the same year sliced bread was invented.”

Greenley talked about the mounting costs of maintaining the decades-old buildings.

An artist rendition of what the new consolidated school would look like for Belpre City Schools if voters approve the bond on the May 6 ballot. Previous bond issues to fund the construction of a single K-12 campus in the district have failed three times in 2022 and 2023. (Photo Provided)

“In the six years I’ve been here, we’ve put air conditioning in at Lawton and the high school, which cost well over a million dollars,” he said.

He said additional expenses included safety and security upgrades like camera installations and new door sensors. He said the district is also dealing with the aging HVAC systems.

“At the elementary school, the HVAC went down in the fall,”Greenley said. “They had to find or have a custom part made, which cost us three to four school days.”

Other significant repair expenses included:

* Remediation work due to asbestos

An artist rendition of what the new K-12 campus would look like for Belpre City Schools if voters approve the bond on the May 6 ballot. The district has had a bond issue to fund the construction of a single K-12 campus in the district fail three times in 2022 and 2023. (Photo Provided)

* Replacing door locks and security systems

* Addressing structural issues in various school buildings

“These repairs are resources that are not allocated for teaching and learning,” Greenley said. “Every dollar spent on maintenance is a dollar taken away from what we’ve budgeted for academics.”

Greenley said the proposed bond would fund a new facility with collaborative learning spaces, regulation-sized gyms, performing arts areas, and updated technology infrastructure. He said if the bond should pass, the state of Ohio would contribute an additional $22 million to complete the elementary school portion.

“The elementary school would be paid for by the state of Ohio when that funding is available,” Greenley said.

He said the design has a forward-thinking approach.

“We’re building for students not just in 2025, but looking ahead to 2055,” Greenley said.

Bella Morrison, a sophomore at Belpre High School, offered a candid perspective on why the upcoming school bond issue matters to students who have experienced the limitations of aging school infrastructure.

“When I was in the Lawton building, it was always kind of falling apart,” Morrison said. “The cafeteria floor has come up in a lot of places, and they’ve had to redo the lobby due to asbestos issues.”

She also talked about the daily challenges of learning in the outdated high school facility.

“Our bathrooms have been pretty bad recently with piping problems, and it’s expensive to fix that kind of stuff,” she said.

She said maintenance work can oftentimes interrupt the school day, with construction sounds creating distractions during classes.

Morrison also said she has had classmates and family decide to go to a neighboring school district due to conditions and lack of support from the community.

“I have cousins who had to transfer out of Belpre schools because their parents didn’t feel the community was supporting the school,” Morrison said. “It’s hurtful to students knowing your community isn’t showing up for you.”

While Morrison said she knows she won’t be around to benefit from a new building, she sees hope for future students. She said the bond issue isn’t just about a building – it’s about investing in the community’s future and showing support for the next generation of students.

“If this passes, maybe families who had to move away can come back to Belpre schools,” Morrison said.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com