MADISON — Madison Local Schools is going to the ballot May 4 in a do-or-die election for a segmented building project, Superintendent Rodger Goudy said.

The district is asking the public for a 3.33-mill bond issue with an included 0.5-mill, 37-year building maintenance levy, as well as a 4.9-mill joint financing district renewal levy, which will go to Perry, Painesville, Madison and Ridgewood district voters.

If passed, the bond issue will raise $21,857,274 — the district’s 51 percent share of a new elementary school and a new middle school. The Ohio School Facilities Commission would cover 49 percent of the building project. The district will defer collection of bond issue funds for three years, Goudy said.

The May ballot is the last stop for Madison’s bond issue under these terms, Goudy said, as the Ohio School Facilities Commission will rescind its bricks-and-mortar funding if the issue fails, forcing the board of education to re-apply for the funds.

“The terms for the first failed bond issue was 60 percent funding,” he said. “This time, it is 49 percent funding. Who knows what the terms would be a third time around.”

Voters may ponder the differences in this bond issue and the November 2007 issue led by former Superintendent Jim Herrholtz.

The 2007 bond issue, which failed by 1,283 votes, would have built a campus-style complex by Madison High School. That 4.81-mill bond issue and 23-year maintenance levy would have cost property owners $165.68 a year.

This new bond issue would cost property owners $101.06 per $100,000 of property valuation per year for the combined issues, Goudy said.

The money would build a new elementary school behind the Memorial Complex and middle school near the high school on property already owned by the district.

The new-building option is called “segmenting,” or constructing new schools in phases. The district’s first phase or “segment” includes the two new school buildings.

The second phase introduces a high school renovation and another new elementary school, Goudy said, and the district has plans for the other schools in the district, too.

Goudy said as the first buildings are constructed, the district will demolish Homer Nash Kimball in Madison and North Madison Elementary in Madison Township. The sale of these properties would fund the renovation of the middle school into an elementary school.

Red Bird Elementary would remain for pre-kindergarten and all-day kindergarten classes.

“The OSFC has funds for demolition of old schools,” Goudy said. “With the buildings gone, these properties would have some value, which we could reinvest into the district buildings.”

Goudy said overcrowded classrooms and hallways bring the new buildings into focus for the district, but there are other issues, as well.

“The middle school is definitely overcrowded,” he said. “But that is only one component of the problems. Some of the buildings are very, very old. You have to wonder what these buildings will look like in 30 years. They have lived their useful life.”

One district to the east, Geneva is replacing all its schools in a comprehensive, district-wide building project.

“Geneva is replacing buildings half the age of Madison’s buildings,” Goudy said. “It is time to think about the future of Madison schools.”

Goudy said he understands voters are concerned about budgets and spending in tough economic times.

“We are viewing this as economic stimulus,” he said. “I think people understand the struggles of schools, the constant upkeep and maintenance of these old buildings, the opportunities for the students with new buildings.”

“Plus, we are deferring payment on the issue for three years,” he said. “With the economy the way it is, we feel very strongly that this issue not be too expensive, or too much for the voters. By deferring collection for almost three years, we are hoping the economy gets better in that time.”