Beaver district officials study building plans

Two other local districts on the list have no projects on the drawing board.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
LISBON -- An announcement that Beaver School District is one of 28 in Ohio being considered for state construction funding assistance this year appears to come at a fortuitous time.
Beaver is looking at a master building plan now that is expected to cost between $51 million and $52 million, said Superintendent Willard Adkins.
If the Ohio School Facilities Commission approves the construction plan, the state could pick up 71 percent of the construction costs, he said.
The district thought it might make the OSFC funding list next year and was a bit surprised to learn from the governor's office that it made the current list, he said.
Beaver is considering three building scenarios.
The first would involve building a new central elementary school to house pupils in kindergarten through the sixth grade and a new junior-senior high school for grades seven to 12.
A second version would build a school for kindergarten through eighth grade and a new high school for grades nine to 12.
The third version calls for a new kindergarten-fifth grade elementary building, renovation of the current middle school for grades six, seven and eight and construction of a new high school for grades nine to 12.
All three projects are within about $1 million of one another, Adkins said.
What's next
He said he will meet with OSFC representatives later this month and hopes to have a final decision on which version the district will pursue by April.
There will be a local cost, he said, noting that voters could be asked as early as November to approve a 5-mill tax levy to fund the estimated $15 million to $16 million local share.
Making the state's Rebuilding Ohio's Schools list doesn't automatically mean Beaver will get state funding. It's just the first step in the process.
The local school board will have to approve a districtwide facilities plan developed jointly by the district and OSFC in June.
Once the local board approves it, the OSFC will formally consider it at its July meeting, and the State Controlling Board will be asked for approval in August.
Beaver wasn't the only district making the list.
Bristol School District in Bristolville and Southington School District in Southington, both in Trumbull County, made it too, although school officials in both said it is unlikely either will take advantage of it.
"I expect we will defer," said Dr. Marty Santillo, Bristol superintendent. "We could definitely use a new high school," he said, but the fact that Bristol is just coming out of a state fiscal emergency rating now makes it unlikely that any building program will be developed.
Frank Danso, Southington superintendent, said his district has no building projects on the board either right now, although its facilities are old.
The Southingon board will discuss the assistance announcement at its next meeting but could opt not to accept the state's offer at this time, he said.
OSFC's recommendation of districts for funding is based on a district's relative property wealth or a demonstrated exceptional need.
gwin@vindy.com