Murrays leading Hamilton schools bond issue campaign

October 16, 2006

The issue “strikes at the heart” of both their household and their community, so Joe and Karen Murray couldn’t refuse when Janet Baker, Superintendent of the Hamilton City School District, asked the couple for a favor last spring—a big favor.

Joe, Miami Hamilton’s Director of Academic Advising and Retention, and Karen, Miami University Director of Health Education on the Oxford campus, are co-chairs of the current Hamilton City School District Bond Issue campaign.

On the ballot is a 4.91-mill bond issue (Issue #6) which, if approved by voters at the polls Nov. 7, will help fund construction of eight new elementary schools to replace 14 elementary school buildings which are 45-100 years old. It will also fund repairs and renovations at the high school and both middle schools.

“We feel this is a very important issue for the entire Hamilton community, and certainly for our household. Karen and I are doing this not only for our children, but for our (future) grandchildren,” Murray said. The couple has two kids in the district; Jamie, 12, at Wilson Middle School, and Jack, 9, at Cleveland Elementary.

The issue was placed on the ballot after a State of Ohio study of Hamilton’s physical school facilities found it would be far more cost effective to build new schools rather than renovate outdated ones, Murray said.

If approved, the bond issue will cost Hamilton residents about $13.80 a month per $100,000 of property values. The State of Ohio will pay $120 million toward the project, which Murray said is a “chance-of-a-lifetime opportunity.” Should voters reject the bond issue, the state’s portion will go to another community, he said.

Murray said anyone interested in helping with the campaign may contact him at murrayje@muohio.edu, or call the Bond headquarters at 894-3685.