Niles board to pick sites of elementary schools May 21

By Jordan Cohen

NILES — The board of education will choose the two sites for its new elementary schools during its May 21 meeting, says schools Superintendent Rocco Adduci.

Under consideration are the current locations of Washington, Bonham and Lincoln elementary schools, all of which are to be demolished.

The Jackson Elementary school building, which also had been considered for demolition, will be converted into new offices for the board of education.

The superintendent said earlier that the board hopes to either sell or lease its current office on West Street, which Adduci said is too small.

Adduci said he is awaiting the results of an environmental impact study along with soil surveys and core samples.

The superintendent said he expects to have the completed reports by early May.

Last November, Niles voters approved an $18 million bond issue to build the two schools and a new high school. Later, the district’s cost was reduced to $16.2 million because of a drop in student enrollment.

The total cost of the project is about $60 million, with the balance funded by the Ohio School Facilities Commission.

Last month, the board voted in favor of Adduci’s recommendation to have one new building for kindergarten through second grade and the other for third through fifth grades.

One hour before its May 21 meeting at Lincoln School, the board will have a community session to discuss the site reports.

“We’ll make our decision right after we discuss this with the public,” the schools superintendent said.