WEATHERSFIELD Board shows off remodeled Seaborn school

Seaborn Elementary has a new industrial technology lab, and storage rooms have given way to two new reading classrooms.
By MARY SMITH
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
MINERAL RIDGE -- The Weathersfield Board of Education met Wednesday in Seaborn Elementary School to showcase the changes at the building, which houses 373 kindergartners through fourth-graders.
The changes include:
* the opening of an Industrial Technology Career Academy lab in a refurbished classroom;
* remodeling of two storage rooms into a special-education classroom and a reading room;
* construction of a storage area in the all-purpose room on the former stage area, which is now walled off and neatly arranged with shelves of elementary classroom materials.
The ITCA lab was funded by the Trumbull County Educational Service Center. Superintendent Rocco Adduci said the district has received $45,000 to $50,000 per building in 50 percent grants, and the lab, which is equipped with computers, is open for the first time.
The curriculum under the program integrates math, science and technology. The lab was built last summer.
The reading rooms were created using supplemental funding from a Title I grant.
Adduci announced these district enrollment figures: Seaborn, 373; Mineral Ridge Middle School, 309; high school, 368. He noted that kindergarten enrollment is down slightly from last year's 71 pupils to 68.
Hiring: The board hired Dan Kiger, former township police officer, as supervisor of buildings, grounds and transportation at $38,000 a year under a three-year contract. He replaces Ron Lovell, who resigned.
The board also approved spending $14,961 for work on the high school baseball field and to upgrade the sound system in the high school gym.
Adduci said the board had made a commitment to the Baseball Boosters Club to refurbish the field, adding the district has been spending $4,000 annually there.
Adduci noted that the district has put new drainage in at the field. Other work approved by the board includes seeding at a cost of $2,261 by JJLS of Mineral Ridge and replacement of a fence at a cost of $8,900 by Gabriel Fence of Mineral Ridge.
The board also has approved installation of a new sound system at the high school gym, including a CD player, by Altronics of Niles, at a cost of $3,800. The old system will be used elsewhere in the district, Adduci said.
Donations: Donations for the new Joe Lane Sports Complex next to Mineral Ridge High School are approaching $700,000, including $500,000 pledged by local businessman and resident Joe Lane and donations from residents and others, treasurer Angela Lewis said.
The board accepted these additional donations totaling $7,750:
Greg Petrasick, area manager for Ohio Edison, $650; Altronics Speakers of Niles, material and labor for the concession stand and a phone hookup in the locker room, including materials and labor at an estimated value of $800; DSV Builders of Warren, locker room benches valued at $4,200; David E. Pugh, $100 a year for 10 years; Bill and Barb Rambo, $1,000; and National City Bank, $100.