Jackson-Milton board approves school design

The new school will house kids in grades six to 12.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NORTH JACKSON -- The Jackson-Milton Board of Education has approved the latest schematic draft of a new middle school/high school that is to be built in the district.
At a special meeting earlier this week, board members accepted a linear, T-shaped design for the one-story school that will go up just east of Jackson-Milton Elementary School, 14110 Mahoning Ave.
The design still needs to be approved by the Ohio School Facilities Commission, Superintendent Buck Palmer said.
The 81,000-square-foot facility, which will house pupils in grades six to 12, will feature classrooms for middle school pupils on one side and rooms for high school students on the other, Palmer noted.
In between will be a commons area for both groups that will include classrooms for art, gym and health as well as a cafetorium, he added.
What's next
The next portion of the design phase will be more detailed, Palmer continued. It will focus on the orientation of the classrooms such as where closets, windows and storage areas will be, the superintendent said.
Site and utility work for the school, estimated to cost 14.5 million, could get under way by this fall; construction is scheduled to begin in spring 2008 with a projected September 2009 opening, Palmer noted.
The facility also will include a secure parking lot for buses, in accordance to U.S. Department of Homeland Security recommendations, Palmer pointed out. Eight-foot-high fences would surround the lot to keep the buses safe from possible sabotage, Palmer said, adding that bus drivers now take their vehicles home with them.
A DHS grant would partially fund the project, though Palmer was unable to provide a dollar amount.