A Dream on Moorman Road
In 1970, a massive joint vocational high school was nearly built along Moorman Road near Montezuma. Plans were drawn. Land was optioned. But six levy defeats later, the project vanished—giving way, after years of community effort, to what eventually became Tri Star Career Compact. The journey from that ambitious Moorman Road vision to today’s thriving career center is a story of local dreams, fierce debates, and remarkable transformation.
The drive for such a facility began with a clear directive from Columbus: by September 1, 1974, all Ohio schools had to meet new, stringent Vocational Standards. This was part of a national current, influenced by the 1963 Federal Vocational Education Act, which aimed to bolster career-technical training nationwide. Ohio positioned itself as a leader, fostering a rapid expansion of vocational programs between 1963 and 1983.
However, this statewide push encountered a skeptical national mood. Just as Auglaize and Mercer County leaders were coalescing around their JVS plan, a prominent 1973 U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare report, Work in America, delivered a sharp critique. It stated that high school vocational programs often “failed to give students” adequate workforce preparation, frequently neglecting essential academic skills in favor of narrow job training. This federal assessment—summarizing that skill-specific secondary training was insufficient without foundational academic and social skills—became a key talking point for opponents in the ensuing local debates, who sometimes characterized it as an “attack on vocational education”.
Despite these undercurrents, the newly formed Auglaize-Mercer JVS (AMJVS) Board of Education, with Dr. Charles Bensman as acting superintendent, pressed forward with its Moorman Road vision. Celina architects Fanning & Howey presented detailed plans for an impressive 113,000 square-foot campus. This facility was designed to serve students from a dozen local districts across Auglaize and Mercer counties, including Celina, St. Marys, Coldwater, Parkway, New Knoxville, and Minster. Architect Ron Fanning described the design as “contemporary functionalism,” aiming to avoid an “institutional look” and create an “intriguing design which should make the pupil want to attend”. Large renderings of the “modified campus plan,” featuring a central academic core and dedicated workshops, were prepared for public rollout and formally accepted by the board. To fund this Moorman Road dream, a 1.43 mills operating levy and a $2 million construction bond issue (a .72 mill levy) were placed on the May 5, 1970, primary ballot.
The vision was ambitious. The question was whether the community would embrace it.
The Community Pushes Back
The fate of the Moorman Road JVS would ultimately be decided by the voters. Over the next five years, the AMJVS proposal, in its various iterations, faced staunch opposition, leading to six consecutive levy defeats. Each election cycle seemed only to deepen the divisions within the two counties regarding the project’s cost, its necessity, and its potential impact on established local education.
By 1975, as a final 3-mill levy was put before the electorate in June, organized citizen groups had become influential voices. “Citizens Opposing Joint Vocational Schools” held public meetings, featuring speakers like E. Dennis Barnes of Upper Sandusky, who had fought the JVS in ten courts and recently won an appellate case. Barnes announced his intention to hire attorney William B. Ball, known for an Amish school rights victory before the U.S. Supreme Court, and stated the JVS concept “did not belong in our public schools.” Norb Gudorf, a Minster school board member, also spoke out, citing concerns for both quality education and the taxpayer burden, and reflecting the worries of retiring Minster Superintendent Ed Van Oss about the JVS’s impact on local school enrollment and academic focus.
Another group, “Citizens for the Truth,” with Mercer County’s Ralph Heyne as treasurer, campaigned actively, distributing pamphlets at public meetings with large turnouts. Their pamphlets argued that the 3-mill levy would translate to an actual cost of 4.21 mills for taxpayers due to how increasing property valuations would affect the operating portion without a rollback. They advocated for joining a Montgomery County JVS (MCJVS) satellite program, referencing statements by MCJVS Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Crim about its potential, as a more affordable alternative, “48 per cent less” costly. A proposed land deal for a JVS site (distinct from the original Moorman Road plan, and reportedly involving the Western Ohio Educational Foundation – WOEF and the Wright State University Branch Campus – WOBC) also drew fire. St. Marys resident Raymond Schrolucke, in a published letter, labeled it a “JVS BLUNDER,” claiming it was a “bad deal for the JVS tax payers” because WOBC would effectively receive extensive space at minimal cost to them.
Beyond financial calculations, community anxieties were palpable. Newspaper accounts and letters from the period reveal that residents raised fears about the potential loss of local sports and music programs if students were bused to a centralized JVS. There were concerns, as voiced by figures like Mark Wenning, that existing vocational classes in local high schools might be eliminated and their teachers dismissed. These local concerns, amplified by the national discussion about vocational education’s effectiveness—a point E. Dennis Barnes often highlighted by referencing the Work in America report —created a challenging environment for JVS proponents.
Advocates, including AMJVS Board President Frank Stoner and superintendents like Frank Dennings (St. Marys) and Dr. Neil Johnson (Celina), worked to counter these narratives. Stoner, in a letter to taxpayers, defended the local JVS proposal and questioned the certainty and timeliness of the MCJVS satellite option. W.D. Sheeley of Coldwater, in his letter, argued that AMJVS offered distinct advantages: “early building use, local control of programs and policies, definite site location…and local money remaining in the immediate area”. Thomas M. Eversman, President of the New Knoxville Teachers Association and chairman of a pro-JVS citizens’ group, stated, “Comprehensive vocational education is a necessary part of the total education program”. The Evening Leader’s editor, Mike Core, also supported the local JVS, noting in his “CoreNer” column that “the law requires it,” and a local school would best serve community interests.
Despite strong advocacy, the June 1975 vote ended the AMJVS effort—and with it, any Moorman Road school plans. The Auglaize-Mercer County JVS was officially dissolved. The state then reassigned local students: Celina, Minster, and seven other districts to Montgomery County JVS; St. Marys and New Knoxville to Apollo JVS in Lima; and Parkway to Vantage JVS in Van Wert. For New Knoxville, this meant an immediate 2.2 mill cost plus a $31,000 buy-in fee to Apollo. The dream of a unified vocational high school on Moorman Road had ended, leaving a fragmented system for career education.
After the Collapse: What Came Next
The dream of a centralized vocational school had collapsed. But the need—and the state mandate—remained.
For nearly a decade, the 80 acres along Moorman Road remained undeveloped. The vision of a bustling vocational campus became a footnote in Montezuma’s history. Yet, the underlying need for quality career education endured. Then, in March 1983, a different approach began to germinate. Celina, St. Marys, and Coldwater—three of the original AMJVS proponents—formed a novel “compact”. This marked the birth of the Tri Star Career Compact. Its first classes commenced that August, making it only the second such collaborative model in Ohio.
This new model quickly gained traction. By 1985, Tri Star included nine member districts: Celina, Coldwater, Fort Recovery, Marion Local, Minster, New Bremen, New Knoxville, St. Henry, and St. Marys. For years, Tri Star operated resourcefully, without a central campus, its 15 programs distributed among six existing facilities, some described at the time as ‘worn-out,’ within member high schools like Celina High and St. Marys Memorial. Tri Star operated on a half-day model, allowing students to receive vocational training while remaining active in their home schools for academics and extracurriculars.
Tri Star 2.0 and a New Era
The idea of a consolidated campus, the ghost of the Moorman Road JVS in a new form, resurfaced in 2015. County superintendents, with Mercer County Community Development Director Jared Ebbing providing guidance, began to explore “Tri Star 2.0”. This time, armed with decades of Tri Star success and a new state law (facilitated by then-State Senator Keith Faber) allowing compacts to seek bond levies, the proposal found strong community backing. In August 2016, voters approved a 15-year, 0.95-mill bond levy. The State of Ohio also invested, contributing $8.31 million towards the $25 million project.
In August 2019, Tri Star 2.0—an impressive $25 million, 101,000-square-foot facility—opened at 7655 State Route 703 in Celina. The architectural firm was Fanning-Howey Associates, the same firm that had designed the Moorman Road JVS nearly five decades earlier; their modern design for Tri Star 2.0 would later receive national recognition. Positioned directly across from Wright State University’s Lake Campus, which was once a proposed JVS location the in the 1970s and alternative to Moorman Road, the new Tri Star facility embodies a future of educational collaboration, with stated goals of helping students earn college credit alongside career skills. The Western Ohio Educational Foundation (WOEF), instrumental in establishing the Lake Campus, thus found a new educational neighbor, decades after its own founding in 1962.
A Legacy Forged on a Detour
The high school planned for Moorman Road near Montezuma was never built. The ambitious AMJVS dream of the 1970s succumbed to financial realities and community divisions. Yet, that “failure” was not a definitive end, but an essential, if difficult, detour. It compelled a re-evaluation, ultimately clearing the path for the adaptable, collaborative, and widely supported Tri Star Career Compact.
The story of vocational education in Auglaize and Mercer Counties serves as a vivid local example of how communities navigate complex choices. The intense debates surrounding the Moorman Road JVS, and the subsequent period of adaptation, forged a stronger, more resilient approach to preparing students for their futures. Today, instead of the one grand school that almost was, nine districts work in partnership, a testament to the enduring pursuit of opportunity. The echoes of that 1970s debate have long since faded, replaced by the sounds of learning and innovation at Tri Star—a dream realized, not on Moorman Road, but through a journey uniquely its own.
Works Referenced
Auglaize‑Mercer Joint Vocational School Board of Education. Minutes of the meeting, 19 Feb 1970.
Citizens for the Truth. Pamphlet opposing the 3‑mill levy, May 1975.
Citizens Opposing Joint Vocational Schools. Speaker hand‑outs and notes, public meeting, Town House, Minster, 12 May 1975.
Fanning & Howey, Architects. Preliminary renderings and specifications for the proposed Auglaize‑Mercer JVS campus, Feb 1970.
Fanning Howey Associates. Press release, “Fanning Howey Wins National Design Award for Tri Star Career Compact,” Dec 2020.
New Knoxville Taxpayers for Our Own Joint Vocational School. Flyer/letter to district voters, May 1975.
Ohio Department of Education. “Communication on District Reassignments,” Mar 1975.
Ohio Facilities Construction Commission. Award letter granting $8.31 million to Tri Star Career Compact, 2016.
Ohio General Assembly. Amended statute authorizing career‑tech compacts to seek bond levies (2015 session law, sponsor: Sen. Keith Faber).
Ohio State Board of Education. Vocational Standards mandate, effective 1 Sep 1974.
Sidney Daily News (Sidney, OH). Interview with retiring Minster Superintendent Ed Van Oss, spring 1975.
The Daily Standard (Celina, OH). “New Tri Star Facility Officially Dedicated,” 21 Aug 2019, front page and p. A3.
The Evening Leader (Saint Marys, OH). Article on AMJVS plans, 20 Feb 1970, p. 1 & cont.
The Evening Leader (Saint Marys, OH). Article citing Work in America in JVS debate, 2 May 1975, pp. 1 & 5.
The Evening Leader (Saint Marys, OH). News coverage of levy campaign, 13 May 1975, p. 1.
The Evening Leader (Saint Marys, OH). Editorial “CoreNer,” 13 May 1975, p. 4.
The Evening Leader (Saint Marys, OH). Follow‑up levy article, 13 May 1975, p. 5.
The Evening Leader (Saint Marys, OH). Report on Minster public meeting (Barnes, Gudorf, Van Oss statements), 14 May 1975, p. 5.
The Mercer County Chronicle (Coldwater, OH). Letter from W. D. Sheeley, 15 May 1975, p. 2.
The Mercer County Chronicle (Coldwater, OH). Letter from Raymond Schrolucke, “JVS BLUNDER,” 29 May 1975, p. 10.
The Mercer County Chronicle (Coldwater, OH). Paid advertisement, “JVS Deception II” (Citizens for the Truth), 29 May 1975, p. 10.
The Mercer County Chronicle (Coldwater, OH). Letter from E. Dennis Barnes on constitutional issues, 29 May 1975, p. 10.
The Mercer County Chronicle (Coldwater, OH). Letter from Frank Stoner to taxpayers, 29 May 1975, p. 10.
Tri Star Career Compact. “Community” historical‑overview PDF (Amazon S3), 2015.
U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Work in America: Report of a Special Task Force to the Secretary of HEW. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1973.
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