Upper Arlington voters have rejected Issue 7, the school district’s combined $273.5 million bond issue and 4.9-mill permanent operating levy, ending — for now — the second phase of its facilities master plan. Upper Arlington City Schools conceded defeat on election night, Tuesday, November 3, saying in a 9:20 p.m. statement reported by The Columbus Dispatch that the issue was failing by a margin of 51 percent to 49 percent.
The result leaves three aging buildings — Hastings Middle School, Jones Middle School and Burbank Early Childhood School — without the construction funding the district had counted on, and its operating budget without the new levy revenue it had sought. The results remain unofficial until the Franklin County Board of Elections certifies them.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, the district said in its election-night statement that its next step is to develop a plan to “address the significant, immediate needs at these three schools and ensure the buildings remain safe for students and staff.” The district added, in the statement reported by the Dispatch: “Without the bond funding of Issue 7, the main source of funding to pay for those needed repairs is the district’s operating budget, which will also be negatively impacted by the loss of the operating levy funding.”
Issue 7 was a combined package. The bond portion, $273.5 million, would have financed construction at the three schools, while the 4.9-mill levy would have funded day-to-day operating expenses. Because the two were presented as a single issue, the defeat takes both pieces off the table at once — there is no partial approval to fall back on.
The construction plan was specific. Reporting by The Columbus Dispatch described a rebuilt Hastings Middle School on the current stadium site, a renovation of the original three-story portion of Jones Middle School — a building dating to 1923 — with new learning spaces constructed around it, and a rebuilt and expanded Burbank Early Childhood School meant to address demand for early learning seats. The plan also called for synthetic turf fields at both middle schools and temporary learning spaces for Jones students during construction.
The cost to homeowners was a central part of the campaign. If voters had approved it, the bond issue would have cost property owners $169 for each $100,000 of the county auditor’s market value for up to 38 years, and the permanent 4.9-mill levy would have cost $172 for each $100,000 of value, according to figures reported by The Columbus Dispatch. Together, the district said, the package would have meant an annual property tax increase of approximately $1,250 a year — about $105 a month — for a home valued at $500,000.
The $273.5 million bond would have funded the second phase of the district’s master improvement plan; the first phase, begun in 2017, delivered improvements at the district’s five elementary schools and a new high school, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Supporters framed Issue 7 as finishing that job, while the price tag had grown sharply — district Treasurer Andrew Geistfeld told The Columbus Dispatch that construction costs have ballooned to about 200 percent of what they were a decade ago.
The campaign divided the community largely over scale and tax burden. Mark Bainbridge, spokesperson for Protect UA Schools, which campaigned against the package, told The Columbus Dispatch that opponents were concerned about the large increase in property taxes. Stacy McIntire, co-chair of the Issue 7 levy campaign, acknowledged to The Columbus Dispatch that the issue came at a financially challenging time, but argued it was about finishing a job begun a decade ago — and noted the three buildings carry an estimated $125 million in repairs even on a repair-and-renovate path, money that would not reach classroom spaces.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What is known is the outcome the district itself announced on election night: Issue 7 failed by the narrow 51-to-49 margin the district cited, and the district has committed to producing a plan for the immediate needs at Hastings, Jones and Burbank. What is not yet known includes that plan’s timeline, which repairs it will prioritize, and whether — or when — the board might return to voters with a smaller or restructured request. The district has not announced any of those steps, and the results remain unofficial until certified by the Franklin County Board of Elections.
For families, nothing about the three schools changes this school year — students stay in the buildings they are in, and the construction sequencing in the Issue 7 plan does not move forward. The pressure the plan was meant to relieve, including demand for early childhood seats at Burbank, remains. Voters elsewhere in Franklin County reached the opposite conclusion the same night: South-Western City Schools voters approved a bond issue to replace Grove City and Westland high schools, a reminder that each district’s facilities debate is being settled community by community.
What happens next is, first, certification: the Franklin County Board of Elections will certify the November 3 results, making the defeat official. After that, attention turns to the board of education and the administration’s promised plan — how the district will pay for significant, immediate repairs out of an operating budget that will not receive the levy increase it sought, and what that means for programs and future ballot requests.