Aurora City Schools is asking voters to approve a $96.2 million bond issue on Nov. 3 that would finally replace Craddock Elementary, a building more than 100 years old and the oldest in the district, while also tackling HVAC, roofing and paving problems across the district. The measure, known as Issue 4, comes two years after Aurora voters rejected a much larger facilities plan.
Issue 4 is a 4.26-mill bond issue that would be repaid over 37 years, according to record-courier.com. The largest single piece of the plan is a new 117,100-square-foot elementary school for grades 1 through 3 that would replace Craddock, at a projected cost of $57.6 million. If approved, the bond would cost homeowners an estimated $149 annually for every $100,000 of their property's market value, per the same outlet's reporting.
A Smaller Ask After a Bigger Plan Failed
Aurora voters rejected a $136.5 million bond issue in November 2024, prompting the district to scale back its ambitions, the news outlet reported. That earlier, larger proposal would have funded a new 27,000-square-foot high school along with reorganization and necessary work on four of the district's other five existing buildings, according to a separate report from eu.record-courier.com. The 2024 measure's price tag has been described variously as roughly $136 million, $136.35 million or $136.5 million depending on the source, and the dossier does not reconcile the discrepancy.
After that defeat, district officials weighed four possible paths forward, the Record-Courier's sister site reported at the time: repeating the bond issue, building a new elementary school, adding onto existing buildings, or pursuing what was called a “punt and patch” approach. That cheapest option could have used existing funding, possibly supplemented by a much smaller bond issue, but would not have addressed overcrowding, according to that report.
Instead, the district landed on the current scaled-back version. As WKYC reported, Aurora City Schools would continue using its current buildings and could see some other projects delayed if the new bond proposal fails this time. A district statement captured the tradeoff plainly: “We will have to make do with our existing middle and high school structures,” per record-courier.com's coverage.
What's Inside the $96.2 Million Plan
Beyond the new Craddock building on the same Hurd Road site, the bond would fund a 12,073-square-foot transportation center for $7 million and $2.9 million in new Board of Education offices, according to record-courier.com. The plan also calls for addressing critical HVAC, roofing, paving and other infrastructure needs throughout the district, per information posted on auroraohlevy.com. District officials have framed the measure as a way to shore up aging buildings while also expanding capacity, according to kentstatenewslab.org, which quoted an official saying, “It's an encompassing bond issue that will allow us to improve our aging infrastructure and increase our capacity.”
Craddock's age has become a central argument for the bond. The school is more than 100 years old and remains the oldest building in the district, per that same report. If voters reject Issue 4, current buildings would remain in use, with some major repairs potentially delayed, according to a report from yahoo.com.
History of Failed Votes
Aurora's struggle to fund new school facilities isn't new. A $16 million bond issue to build a new high school failed back in 1993, and the district instead paid for three expansions over the following decade at a combined cost of $21 million, according to kentstatenewslab.org's reporting. That history underscores why district leaders are framing this November's vote as a more modest, achievable ask compared with the 2024 proposal.
Aurora isn't alone on the ballot this cycle. In central Ohio, South Western City Schools voters will also decide Nov. 3 on a bond issue — a 2.26-mill measure that would replace Grove City and Westland high schools without raising the property tax rate, according to nbc4i.com. That district could access roughly $113 million in state construction funding toward a nearly $226 million project if voters approve it, and estimates it would otherwise need to spend more than $70 million on repairs without state help, the station reported. Construction there is expected to begin in 2028, with the rebuilt schools opening in late summer 2031.
Key Dates for Aurora Voters
The general election is set for Nov. 3, and early absentee voting began Oct. 6 at the Portage County Board of Elections, according to record-courier.com. Aurora residents weighing Issue 4 are effectively being asked whether a smaller, more targeted bond can succeed where the district's bigger 2024 vision could not.
