Avon Passes Middle School Levy on Third Try

Avon Local School District finally got the response they were looking for. After two failed levy attempts, voters narrowly approved a 28-year, $32 million bond that allows the district to build a new middle school.

Issue 31 passed, unofficially, 6221 to 4165.

"We're obviously very thankful to voters for supporting the issue," Avon Superintendent of Schools Mike Laub said after the election. "Now we can put plans in motion for all the growth we’re expecting."

Laub said the district is looking at a construction timeline to open the new middle school for the 2015-16 school year. 

"We have some planning to do," Laub said. "We need to sit down with architects and the planning committee and put plans in motion. I want to see it laid out on paper and exactly what the plans are."

Overcrowding and an increase in student enrollment was cited as the reason for the need for a new middle school.

featuring principal Dr. Craig Koehler, shows the current conditions at the school.

The levy was the third attempt. Earlier tries for the same amount November of 2011 and March of 2012. This time passage of this levy will not result in a tax increase. Both previous attempts narrowly failed.

District treasurer Kent Zeman previously said if approved by voters, taxpayers would not see an increase in taxes if this levy passed, but a continuation of the 5.3-mill rate currently in effect.

The 28-year levy will generate enough funds to build a new Avon Middle School that would be finished by the 2014-15 school year.

The school would be built on a 46-acre property the district already owns on Long Road.