YOUNGSTOWN SCHOOLS Board of education approves renovation, construction plans

The Chaney auditorium will be renovated and an auditorium will be built at the new high school.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN-- The board of education has approved renovation and expansion plans for Volney Rogers Middle School, an auditorium renovation at Chaney High School and construction of an auditorium at the new East Side High School.
The $7.7 million worth of work at Volney, scheduled to begin in fall 2004, will add six classrooms, a special education room, a stairway, vocal and instrumental music rooms and restrooms.
The Volney project, presented by architect Cherie Hayek of MS Consultants of Youngstown, also will include expansion of the kitchen and cafeteria, renovation of the office, and enlargement of the media center.
The board also approved Tuesday spending $600,000 from its income from the sale of Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield stock for renovations to the auditorium at Chaney High School and $1 million from the same source for construction of a 600-seat auditorium in the new East Side High School.
The state does not pay for auditorium construction or renovation.
Demolition
The board also passed resolutions to prepare for the demolition in 2004 of Williamson Elementary School and East Middle School. Williamson will be replaced with a new school bearing that name on the same site; pupils will be relocated to Bennett Elementary School in the interim.
East Middle School will remain standing until its replacement opens adjacent to North Elementary School.
The work on all of the buildings is part of a $180 million, six-year districtwide construction and renovation project being paid for by a combination of state and local funds.
The board also bought liability insurance coverage for architectural and engineering errors in the project from L. Calvin Jones & amp; Co. of Canfield through Lexington Insurance Co. The board will pay a $518,523 premium for coverage of $2 million per incident and $10 million in total coverage, with a $100,000 deductible per claim.
The board also authorized an agreement with Johnson Controls to provide automatic temperature controls in connection with the schools construction and renovation project.
Other business
It also raised hourly substitute pay from $6.34 to $7.20 for educational assistants, $6.58 to $7.20 for custodial helpers, $6.84 to $8 for secretaries, and from $7.97 to $9 for retired school secretaries who return to work as substitutes.
Rick Kubic, senior deputy state auditor, presented treasurer Carolyn Funk with the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting for 2001.
Board member Gerri Sullivan announced that some 200 fourth-graders who haven't reached the basic ability score of 198 on their reading proficiency test must attend a free summer school and will retake the test July 25 and 26.
If they still don't score 198 or better, they will receive intensive remediation and may be retained in fourth grade.
The summer program is optional for fourth-graders who have scored a 198 or better but have not reached 217, which is considered the proficient level.