The Pickerington school district is growing faster than officials can persuade voters to support the bond issues and levies needed for new buildings and operations.

The lag is roughly four years, by which time another anthill of homes has sprouted.

Don’t blame the schools. District officials don’t write the zoning ordinances that allow for such growth or the state laws that limit which entities can benefit from impact fees on developers.

The Pickerington City Council is considering a plan for the first time — and it’s about time — to spare the district losses from a taxincrement-financing plan. That means schools would not have to sacrifice future tax revenues to attract businesses.

Board President Lisa Reade mused yesterday that perhaps the school district should trademark itself. Then developers would have to pay for the right to advertise that their newest subdivision is in the Pickerington district.

She was joking, but the idea underscores the relationship between schools and development in central Ohio. It’s not symbiotic, with mutual benefits.

"The developers benefit greatly from the schools, but the schools don’t benefit conversely," Reade said. "And that’s not a healthy relationship, because both sides aren’t growing at the same rate and that affects our ability to do our job."

Schools shoulder additional burdens that outweigh any added property- or income-tax revenue from new families with young children. The builders just rake in their profits and look for another cornfield to develop.

Pickerington schools already are behind, with enough children to fill a new building. Instead, the students take classes in trailers.

Here’s an idea: Quit making the district look so good.

For example, Tussing Elementary is packed with students, but Principal Tom Wilkinson has set up a lunchroom schedule that both shortens the food line and cuts the crowds at tables.

"He runs two different lunch periods per grade and staggers them, which means the kids rotate through the lunchroom quicker and it’s always half empty," Reade said. "So parents say, ‘Gee, it doesn’t look too crowded.’ "

Voters want to see blood before they approve another tax for more buildings. They want someone to suffer. But folks such as Reade and Wilkinson are working all the harder to make sure the children are held harmless.

Still, Reade said she’s running out of ideas and space. If a levy fails in No- vember, the school board will consider split sessions to accommodate the growth, a pricey alternative in the long run because property values are linked to good-quality schools, and split sessions reek of want and despair.

When property values begin to slip, tax revenue takes a hit. Falling taxes might be good news to older folks and others with fixed incomes. But no one should celebrate when property values erode.

State lawmakers threw Reade and others a bone with a new law that permits school districts to exempt senior citizens from future property-tax increases. But they’d have to let an existing tax lapse first.

That’s a risk Reade said she can’t afford to take if her goal is to build a strong district for the ages instead of an educational holding tank.

Ann Fisher is a Dispatch Metro columnist and can be reached at 614-461-8759 or by e-mail.

afisher@dispatch.com