Residents offer input on new Girard school

A resident said sidewalks should be part of the school construction package.

By SEAN BARRON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

GIRARD — What should and shouldn’t be included as part of a new junior high/high school that will be built in the district?

That was the main topic several residents addressed with school officials during Wednesday’s Girard Board of Education meeting.

Most people seemed to support the school, which is in the first stage of the planning phase, while offering their input on several issues related to it. Some were concerned about traffic on nearby side streets; others wondered how entrances and exits would be configured.

Vickie Paridon, of Gary Avenue, said she hopes most of the traffic will stay on busy Shannon Road. In addition, walkways should be part of the package; pupils are walking on Shannon, which has no sidewalks, she added.

A few residents said they want to see wooded areas adjacent to their properties preserved. One man said he hopes the location of the school won’t cause him to lose privacy.

The exact site for the facility has yet to be determined, but if it’s built near homes, efforts will be made to create a buffer zone to reduce noise, board member Phil Fisher noted. Studies will be performed to come up with ways to prevent traffic problems near the school, Fisher said.

Cost

Last May, residents approved a 3.8-mill bond levy for the school, estimated to be $26 million. The state will pick up about 80 percent of the cost, with the district paying around $5.4 million, Superintendent Joseph R. Jeswald said, adding that an additional $3 million will go toward renovations to the football stadium on Highland Avenue.

The district hired Then Design Inc. of Willoughby, Ohio, as its architectural firm.

The 130,000-square-foot school will house pupils in grades seven to 12 and will go up on 22.6 acres the district bought off Shannon Road, Jeswald noted. Residents’ input will be considered in the design of the facility, Jeswald and Fisher told the audience.