Thursday, February 28, 2008
The high school
preservation committee should be in place this week, a board member says.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN — The board of education has approved the design of two new elementary buildings on the city’s West Side.
The action was taken during a special meeting Wednesday. Fanning/Howey Associates Inc., a Dublin, Ohio, architectural firm, was selected to design Jefferson and McGuffey elementary schools.
Each building will accommodate kindergarten through eighth-grade pupils.
These will be the last school buildings constructed under the district’s school replacement program. One building is complete and two others, including the high school, are under construction.
Each school will be built on existing sites on Tod Avenue.
Superintendent Kathryn Hellweg said the cost of the buildings will be $32 million in state and local funds, and each will house 750 students.
A date for construction to begin has not been set, she said.
Originally, the school district planned to build two 644-pupil schools. However, board member Edward Bolino said the larger schools will save the district money in the long run because additions won’t be needed if enrollment increases.
Hellweg said the district will solicit bids for separate school building construction as well as both buildings constructed as a package. She said the district might be able to save expenses if the construction is offered as a single project.
In other business, board president Robert Faulkner asked that the committee that will make recommendations on what to do with Warren G. Harding High School be prepared to make a proposal to the board at its March 18 meeting.
The board has $1 million to preserve part of the school when it closes at the end of this school year. Students will be moved to a new school adjacent to the existing high school.
Board member Shari Harrell said she hopes to have the 15- to 17-member committee named later this week. She has prepared a list of possible members. Some have volunteered and others haven’t been asked yet to serve.
Regardless of the committee’s makeup, Harrell commented, not all members of the community will be satisfied.
Board member Kevin Stringer suggested that Harding students also serve on the committee.
Harrell said the committee’s guidelines will be to keep within the $1 million available and take into consideration possible added capital improvement and maintenance costs.
yovich@vindy.com