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Wednesday, 26 September 2007 |
Facilities top schools' list
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
The superintendent of Wapakoneta City Schools talked about academics and finances as part of his State of the Schools address Tuesday afternoon, but he said the most important topic at the moment is facilities.
After his speech, Wapakoneta City Schools Superintendent Keith Horner said community members need to focus on the $66.1 million proposed construction and renovation project they will be asked to vote on in November. He said he wants them to understand the process the board went through in making all of its decisions.
He said the information will be available on a special Web site, www.bestwapakschools.com, and leaders plan to talk to as many people as possible regarding the issue before ballots are cast.
“We want to maintain continuous communication throughout the process,” said Horner, who has heard mostly positive reaction to the school board’s decisions. “We don’t want to leave any questions unanswered.
“I think most people see this as the opportunity that it is — once in a lifetime,” he said. “We would be irresponsible if we didn’t present this issue to the public.”
Outlining plans and locations, Horner said the community’s best interests were taken into account each step of the way.
In the spring, district administrators received word that they would be eligible for the funding from the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) about a year earlier than expected. Established in 1997, the organization is responsible for rebuilding and renovating schools in Ohio, with the majority of its funding coming from the state’s tobacco settlement money that does not need to be paid back.
The state would fund 63 percent of costs, or $31.6 million of Wapakoneta’s project, if a 5.8-mill bond issue is passed to cover the local share of $27.5 million, which includes $18.6 million plus $15.9 million in locally funded initiatives. Voters would have three opportunities to pass the issue before some state funding could be lost.
In June, board members voted in favor of a construction plan, which would renovate the high school for eighth- through 12th-grades plus build an auditorium, renovate the middle school for fifth- through seventh-grades, and build two new elementary schools.
One of the elementary schools would accommodate approximately 750 students in kindergarten through fourth-grades and would be built east of the existing Northridge Elementary School.
The other elementary, which would accommodate approximately 350 students in the same grades, would be built on property on Reichelderfer Road in Cridersville.
Horner said the district selected the plan that both it wanted and the plan for which the public offered the most support.
In selecting land sites, several options were considered, but the Cridersville site was most feasible. Centennial’s lot did not include enough acreage to meet OSFC guidelines.
Land negotiations were made with a property owner off Redskin Trail near the existing high school campus, but an agreement could not be reached.
Once construction is complete, Northridge would be torn down for space.
No decision has been made on what would happen to Centennial or Cridersville, although the Cridersville school most likely could be turned back over to the village if it wanted it.
In answering questions from those attending the meeting, Horner said costs of continuing to operate a school in Cridersville would not add up to too many more costs for the district. Square footage would be the same whether those students were housed there or in one large elementary school. Other than cafeteria staff, no cuts could be made to personnel either.
He said one additional bus, at the cost of $16,000, would be needed to run routes in Cridersville. Three buses run the routes now.
District administrators look at running the schools as a business, Horner said, adding that they continue to examine ways to save funding, which is based on each student who attends, and lost to students who leave the district to attend parochial schools, virtual schools or other districts through open enrollment.
He said they are even hoping to attract some new students, at a current figure of $5,560 per student, through new facilities.
“We’ve put a tremendous amount of thought into this process to get to this point,” Horner said. “We just want to make sure the community understands.”
He said the district will continue to be able to improve its academic offerings with new more adaptive spaces, as well as its technology and security through the project as well. |
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 September 2007 )
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