Tuesday, June 19, 2001
Several parents objected to their sons' not being allowed to use the weight room this summer.
By MARY SMITH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
McDONALD -- Renovations at McDonald High School mean that approximately nine classrooms at the old Our Lady of Perpetual Help School will be filled with village pupils next school year.
The board of education approved a lease agreement with the Youngstown Catholic Diocese on Monday for at least four months to lease space at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, 601 Indiana Ave., at a rate of $1,800 a month, plus utilities.
Treasurer Thomas Radabaugh said that nine classrooms are expected to be used primarily for pupils in seventh, eighth and ninth grades. The high school houses seventh through 12th-grade pupils.
Some other classes will also be included in the move to use the old Catholic elementary school, which has been used only for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine classes in recent years, as $7.9 million in renovations and remodeling at the high school gets under way using funding from an Ohio School Facilities Commission grant and some local funds.
The lease period can be extended if need be, Radabaugh said. Some equipment is already being moved into the building.
Radabaugh noted that if the district didn't have the option to rent the building, it would have cost between $150,000 and $200,000 to set up temporary classrooms in trailers outside the high school building.
Use of facilities: Several parents attended the board meeting to object to their sons' not being permitted to use the high school weight room, which is in the back part of the gym, for summer weight training unless they played football.
Board president Robert McClary said the board planned to talk to both the high school football coach, Dan Williams, who said he is running a two-hour-a-day weight training session for football players by volunteering his time, and Chris Rupe, the cross country and track coach, about the matter.