Youngstown moves ahead with $202M program

By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown City School District has spent nearly $60 million in its $202 million school building replacement and renovation program.
A financial report prepared for the school board by Treasurer Carolyn Funk showed that the district had spent $59.7 million from state and local sources as of Sept. 30.
The district is in the midst of a 15-school rebuilding program with about 80 percent of the cost to be picked up by the Ohio School Facilities Commission.
Funk's report showed that of the money spent thus far, $58.8 million was in actual construction costs while the rest was in insurance, permits and various other fees and charges.
Work has been completed on three buildings thus far: Harding, Taft and West elementary schools. All three are new structures with a combined price tag of about $28.4 million.
Seven other buildings are in various stages of work.
Crunching the figures
Williamson Elementary, a new building estimated to cost $7.3 million, will be finished and open by the end of November.
East and Chaney high schools, Berry Middle School and North, Bunn and Kirkmere elementary schools are either under construction or the old buildings are just being razed.
East, Berry, North and Bunn are total building replacement projects with an estimated combined price tag of just over $63 million.
Chaney and Kirkmere are scheduled as renovation/addition projects with a combined cost expected to be more than $28 million.
Buildings that haven't been started yet are Wilson High School, Volney Rogers Middle School, Choffin Career & amp; Technical Center, Rayen High School and Haddow Elementary.
Wilson, Volney Rogers and Rayen are all slated for total replacement with a combined cost estimated at $43 million. Although Rayen and Wilson are high schools now, the new buildings will be middle schools.
Choffin is listed as a renovation/addition project with a price tag of $10.4 million.
In addition to actual construction, the overall project calls for spending more than $8 million just to demolish old buildings.
"I'm pretty sure we're in good shape financially," Funk said.
The state is expected to contribute between $150 million and $160 million of the total project cost with the district coming up with the rest.
Youngstown borrowed just over $37 million in two bond issues to help finance its end of the project and is expected to raise about $16 million more through interest earnings on invested funds and the sale of various stocks and bonds.
gwin@vindy.com