BROOKLYN, Ohio — In just over 12 hours, the polls will open, and Ohio's primary election day will begin; if early voting numbers are any indication, it may be a slow day.
Voter turnout in Cuyahoga County is about half of what it was during early voting in last August's special election and the 2012 and 2016 primaries.
While it is a presidential election year, and there's a battle for one of Ohio's senate seats, school districts ask voters to vote for them with levies and bonds on ballots across Ohio.
Those districts are in a list of counties, but Brooklyn City Schools in Cuyahoga County is proposing a bond issue for construction in their schools.
Brooklyn High School was built in 1957, and you can tell just by looking at the bleachers, classrooms, and walls.
Superintendent of Brooklyn City Schools, Dr. Theodore Caleris, says they're planning major renovations to the science labs, main gym, music wing, auditorium, and more.
"These are where our students live a majority of their high school career," Caleris said. "It makes sense for us to especially in our performing arts center and in our science labs to upgrade those spaces so students can have opportunities that we have in the other campus."
But it'll cost a lot of money.
"The high school was getting to a point where the capital improvements that we needed were becoming so expensive that it really wasn't feasible, from a general fund standpoint, to use that money to upgrade our facilities," said Caleris.
So, the district is turning to the voters for help in Issue 2.
"It's a $20 million bond, 2.96 mils, which will cost the average homeowner $100,000 home $104 annually," said Caleris.
A $200,000 home would be $208 a year or $17 to $34 a month increase on their property tax.
For voters like Kerry Andler, who's lived in Brooklyn her whole life, she believes bonds and levies are crucial for education.
"Levy's and money coming into the school districts is a necessity in order to keep up with everything that's going on in the new trends and the new technology we need to keep infrastructure constantly being upgraded," said Andler.
Mary Lou Maechner has also lived in the city for decades and votes in every election. She doesn't see why the levy is needed.
"Well they can renovate their schools but they should use the funds they have in their budget," said Maechner.
Caleris tells News 5 that if Issue 21 passes, they'll begin designs as soon as the summer, hoping to be done in four years.
And if it doesn't, "We'll reevaluate and start over and begin to have those conversations with the board of education, our staff, our students, our families in our community," Caleris said.
