YOUNGSTOWN SCHOOLS Board OKs plans for two projects

Construction of the Chaney addition is set to begin next spring.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The board of education has approved designs for a $23 million renovation and expansion of Chaney High School and a $5.6 million renovation of North Elementary School.
Also on Tuesday, the board awarded a $379,500 contract to Rudzik Excavating Co. of Struthers for construction of two parking lots with a combined capacity of nearly 400 cars at Chaney High School beginning next week. The work will include fencing and lighting. Rudzik was the lowest of six bidders.
The construction of the addition to Chaney, which will include a gym, media center, cafeteria, kitchen, art and music rooms, nine science labs, five computer labs, and a three-story classroom wing, will begin next spring. The 124,000-square-foot addition will double the size of the building, said architect Ray Jaminet.
Once that is completed, students will be moved into the addition in the fall of 2004, and the old section of the building will undergo a year's worth of renovations, explained Anthony DeNiro, executive director of school business affairs.
North renovation
A 12-14-month renovation at North, which will include installation of new windows, flooring, air conditioning and sprinkler systems, and enlargement of classrooms and offices, is scheduled to begin in 2005 as soon as the new East Middle School building opens. North pupils will then be housed in the old East Middle School while their building is under renovation, DeNiro explained.
The Chaney, North and East building projects are part of a $182.5 million, six-year schools construction and renovation project.
The board also approved permanent operating appropriations of about $102 million for the current fiscal year that will end June 30, compared with about $92 million in expenditures last year, with much of the increase due to increased payroll and benefit costs.