​​Board Reviews Next Steps Following State Facilities Funding Update

Lakota has learned that it is eligible for approximately $100 million in state funding to help build and renovate schools once voters approve funding through a future ballot issue. This eligibility comes about eight years earlier than anticipated, and the State’s share has increased from 32% to 33%. 

School districts have the option to partner with the State’s Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) to receive partial co-funding when implementing a master facilities plan (MFP) for new or renovated buildings. This co-funding means that the State will pay for a portion of approved construction costs tied to a district’s MFP.

With the OFCC’s announcement, the Board must take several steps, including a recently completed state-funded enrollment study. 

Phased MFP

When the November ballot issue to fund the full MFP failed, the Board decided to separate the MFP into two phases, focusing first on grades 6-12, followed by K-5 at a future date. 

Both options the Board is currently considering will shift to a middle school model. Phase one will change the secondary grade bands to:

• Grades 6-8
• Grades 9-12.

Key differences between the options include:

• Two or four middle schools
• Whether to keep schools on the Ridge and Adena sites.

Forecasted Enrollment Update

Enrollment projections help determine the size schools should be. When reviewing MFPs for approval, the OFCC will use its enrollment studies to determine how much square footage the State will co-fund. If buildings exceed the allotted square footage, school districts must pay for the overage through locally funded initiatives (LFIs). In those cases, the State does not provide any co-funding. 

The OFCC conducted an enrollment study in 2024, which forecasted a 2,000 student increase over the next 10 years. Now that the co-funding dollars are available, a new enrollment study was done using the same firm. The most recent enrollment projection shows a decline in enrollment over the next 10 years. Because the results were so different, district leaders met with the OFCC to understand how projections from the same firm could change in just 18 months.

After meeting with the OFCC, Superintendent Ashley Whitely told the MFP committee, “The OFCC’s study only looks at single family homes. There has also been a significant decline in building permit approvals in Butler County, from 1,100 in 2024 to just 500 in 2025.” The study also cited declining birth rates as part of the reason for their latest projection.

Tom Fernandez, president of Elevar Design, Lakota’s architect, told the Board, “At this point, the OFCC’s enrollment study won’t have much of an impact on the master plan because Lakota is choosing to do the work in phases. When the Board moves forward with the K-5 phase, (the OFCC) will repeat the study.”

Next Steps

In the coming weeks, the Board will consider the following actions:

• Reviewing potential programming opportunities a new MFP would support;
• Which plan to submit to the OFCC for approval by April 10;
• Approving a resolution of necessity that asks the county auditor to verify millage needed for a bond issue; and
• Approving a resolution to proceed, which would put Lakota on the Nov. 3 ballot.