Hillsdale may build new K-12 school using pipeline revenue

JEROMESVILLE – With 20 miles of duel pipeline and a natural gas compressor station all located within its district, Hillsdale Local Schools is preparing for a potential windfall from the recent construction of the Rover Pipeline.

While it’s too early to say just how much new revenue the district will receive, superintendent Steve Dickerson said it could be enough to construct a new K-12 building to house the entire district — without going to district voters for a tax increase. 

If estimates he has received from experts prove accurate, Dickerson said the district could pay off an approximately $35 million construction project in no more then 16 years, and possibly as few as nine years. 

The numbers aren’t set in stone because some important variables remain unknown, Dickerson said. The Ohio Department of Taxation has not yet determined the assessed value of the pipeline, and changing property values could impact the state aid the district receives. 

All district residents are invited to an informational meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 13 in the Hillsdale High School Auditorium to learn more about the expected revenue and the proposed construction project.  

The district is considering funding the entire project locally rather than accepting assistance from the state through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, Dickerson said.

Funding the project locally would allow Hillsdale to make its own decisions about the district’s facility needs rather than to follow various OFCC requirements and work around “red tape,” Dickerson said. 

Had the district built a new facility in 2008 when a tax issue was on the ballot, Dickerson said, the state would have funded 47 percent of the project. Now, the state would only fund 26 percent. 

The district is considering the farmed land it already owns on County Road 2175 as a potential site for the new building, and Dickerson said if all goes as planned, the building could be completed in time to open for the 2022-23 school year. 

The new school would replace all three of the district’s buildings, Dickerson said. The middle school in Jeromesville was built in 1927, and the oldest portion of the elementary school in Hayesville dates to 1928. The high school was built in 1963.