JACKSON-MILTON Board unveils school blueprints

NORTH JACKSON -- Some area residents got a glimpse Thursday night of what a new Jackson-Milton Middle/High School could look like.
Among those who saw blueprints of the proposed school complex at the board of education meeting were members of the R Kids 1st Levy Committee Campaign. The group received thanks for working to help pass the 2.7-mill five-year operating renewal levy in August.
Board members discussed placing up to three bond issues on the May 2005 ballot. One bond issue would be for a new middle school-high school, the second for a community athletic center, and the third would be for both, Superintendent Buck Palmer noted.
The 90,500-square-foot high school-middle school would cost about $14 million, would have about 40 classrooms, and would offer separate entrances to the cafeteria and other rooms, for high school and middle school pupils, Palmer said.
The athletic center would be accessible to pupils and the community, board President Scott Bowles said. It would cost about $3 million and would feature a weight room, a wrestling practice facility and fields for football and track.
The new school would replace the ones built in 1913. Both facilities would be built on 120 acres the district owns between Mahoning Avenue and Interstate 76.