DELAWARE — The Buckeye Valley School Board unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday that formally expressed the district’s opposition to the proposed U.S. 23 connector project.
With a new study area now centered in Morrow County, the resolution doubles down on a position first adopted Nov. 19, 2025, calling on the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) to follow through on its 2024 study.
That study, the resolution says, found that improving U.S. 23 is the most practical way to make travel between Waldo and Columbus safer and faster.
The board cited three reasons for the resolution:
- The proposed route would significantly disrupt established school bus routes. According to the resolution, a new major roadway would force the district to reroute buses, increase transportation times and raise safety concerns for students.
- The potential negative impact on property values. Because the route would cut through residential and agricultural land, the resolution notes it could affect families in the district and lead to a loss in property tax revenue.
- The loss of agricultural land, which the resolution describes as “a foundational part of Morrow County’s economy and identity.”
“We passed a resolution in November — I think we were probably the first school district to do it — reinforcing that ODOT spent a lot of time and money and public participation to land on the conclusion that improving Route 23 was the best option for getting people from Waldo to Columbus, and the greatest amount of vehicles,” board member Donald Dicke said.
“And then our legislator decided that no, that wasn’t right, that they had to look at a connector.”
Background on the connector’s timeline
The initial resolution was in response to the Ohio transportation budget that was signed into lawn March 2025, formally mandating ODOT to conduct a feasibility study for a new freeway connector between U.S. 23 and I-71.
In February, the department released a draft feasibility study outlining initial ideas for the connector and in March, ODOT narrowed the route options to five contenders — all located north of Ashley.
Throughout March, ODOT hosted three open houses to garner public comment on the proposed routes in Delaware, Morrow and Marion counties.
ODOT stopped accepting public comment on Tuesday.
Now the agency will determine the “preferred alignment” for the connector, with the final feasibility study expected by October 2026, and evaluate whether the connector project should move forward.
Updated graduation requirements
In other business, the board approved a policy updating graduation requirements.
For graduating classes from now through 2030, the policy reduces elective hours from 5.5 to 4.5 and requires one credit in fine arts.
Beginning with the class of 2031, students will be required to earn 22 credit hours — up from the current 21 — including a half credit in a yearlong freshman seminar course and five elective hours.
Those students will also have the option to take high school fine arts courses in seventh grade.
Dicke also invited attendees to the Delaware Area Career Center groundbreaking ceremony, scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on April 16.
