POLAND Last step wraps up to improve schools

Pupils will still be separated according to grade.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
POLAND -- The last step in a 15-year plan to improve school district buildings is complete: Poland Middle School and McKinley Elementary are under one roof.
The schools stood side by side with Elm Street running between them, and pupils and teachers had to brave the elements to travel from one building to another.
Work began last year to join the two buildings. McKinley houses fifth- and sixth-graders with seventh- and eighth-graders in Poland Middle School.
A section, including a new cafetorium, was added between the two schools to join them.
"The schools will share common areas while still keeping students separated by grade," said Superintendent Robert Zorn.
Crews are putting the finishing touches on the $3.4 million building project for when pupils return to classes Tuesday. An open house is set from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 11 and from 4 to 8 p.m. Sept. 15.
Separated by grade
Pupils will remain separated by grade with fifth- and sixth-graders in classes on the elementary side and seventh- and eighth-graders in the middle school section. Pupils will eat lunch in shifts based on their grade in a new cafeteria in the middle of the renovated building.
The McKinley side will retain its name, but the two together will be referred to as the Poland Middle School Campus, Zorn said.
The dated yellow panels on the outside of the elementary building were painted white to match the colonial style of the middle school.
McKinley is about 50 years old while PMS is more than 150 years old.
Strollo and Associates is the project architect.
Zorn said the district embarked on a plan to upgrade all of its school buildings in 1990. Because the district employed a lease-purchase plan funded by energy savings to pay for the improvements, it was done in phases.
The district installed new energy-saving heating devices to cut costs and borrowed the money to fund the renovation. The loan will be paid off using the money saved with the energy-saving measures.
To achieve that plan, the district had to get approval from the state, and the company that installed the devices guaranteed the savings, Zorn said.
The district opted to do the work in phases because it didn't qualify to receive money to renovate school buildings through the Ohio School Facilities Commission and because school officials didn't want to ask residents for more taxes.
The work at McKinley-PMS marks the third and final phase.
"Each school has had a turn now," the superintendent said.
Other work
The cafeteria at PMS was converted into three classrooms while McKinley's cafeteria was turned into a media center/library and new computer center with a new librarian's work room.
The library at McKinley was retooled into two classrooms. Zorn estimated that it costs about $110,000 to build a classroom that conforms to today's educational standards.
Air conditioning also was installed in the building so teachers can teach and pupils can learn in comfort, the superintendent said.
Elm Street is now a road with the new portion of the building built over it.
A shrub-lined walkway, blocked to traffic, leads from the bus loading area to the school entrance, allowing children safe passage.
The exteriors of both schools and the new section were painted to maintain a consistent look.
An office area was added at McKinley to provide space for parent-teacher conferences and other meetings. No such space existed in the school before the renovation.
"When you can do something that's good for kids without raising taxes, you have an obligation to do it," Zorn said.