SCHOOLS Input on new building sought

Estimated costs for a new building are $22.4 million.
GIRARD -- The board of education will hear public comments on a proposed new high school and a planned $5.4 million bond referendum to pay for a portion of its construction.
The public hearing will be at 6 p.m. Monday, before the regularly scheduled meeting of the school board in the high school auditorium, which begins at 7:15 p.m.
The proposed $22.4 million facility would replace the 80-year-old Girard High School building at Ward and Liberty streets.
Funding
Seventy-six percent of the money for the new high school's construction would come from state sources, as the school district has qualified for funding through the Ohio Schools Facility Commission, Superintendent Joe Jeswald said.
Girard qualified for the state program, which aids districts that need to replace older school buildings.
A referendum to approve the remaining $5.4 million is scheduled for May. School district officials are looking at three possible sites for the new high school, Jeswald said: the current site, a site near Mahoning Country Club and a site that includes a portion of city-owned Liberty Memorial Park.
The current school building site is on four acres, while the Liberty Park site is 67 acres, and the site near the country club is 110 acres.
Jeswald said the state's school facilities commission sent architects to evaluate the current school site earlier this year.
If the estimated cost to renovate a school is more than two-thirds of the cost of new construction, the school becomes eligible for state construction funds.
Monday's public hearing is the first of several to be held in the next few months. Another is scheduled for Jan. 5 in the high school auditorium.
"We want to give the public every opportunity to have input in this process," Jeswald said.