Enrollment decline may cost Niles schools

The superintendent says district enrollment is actually on the rise.

BY JORDAN COHEN

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

NILES — Projections by the Ohio School Facilities Commission that school enrollment here will decline by 300 in 10 years could cost the district $3 million in construction funds from the OSFC, according to Superintendent Rocco Adduci.

The OSFC is funding 71 percent of the $62 million construction cost of the new high school and two elementary schools. A bond issue passed last year is covering the local share of more than $16 million.

During Thursday’s board of education meeting, Adduci said that student enrollment has increased to 2,800 — a trend he believes will continue, despite the commission’s projections.

“We’re doing due diligence to get the numbers where they should be,” Adduci said.

The superintendent also said that the district will follow the recommendations of its core committee on construction and go ahead with plans for the new high school that will require the demolition of the visitor stands at the football stadium and removal of the track and soccer fields. Adduci said it was not necessary for the board to vote on the plans. Two board members are on the core committee.

“The new visitor stands will have an aesthetic look with a brick front similar to the look of the [new] high school,” Adduci said. At a community meeting this week, the superintendent said the current stands will be torn down at the conclusion of the upcoming football season and replaced in time for the start of the next season in 2010.

The superintendent has been in negotiations on a possible lease-purchase agreement for the former Mount Carmel School, which has a track and soccer field that the district could use. Adduci did not discuss the negotiations during the board meeting.

As for the enrollment issue, the superintendent said the district wants to maintain a ratio of one teacher per 25 students from kindergarten through fifth grade, and that could require additional teachers due to increasing enrollment. Adduci said one example is kindergarten, where a higher-than-expected enrollment of 227 will mean one or two additional teachers.

“We’re trying to convince the commission that we need more room and space,” the superintendent said. “Hopefully they’ll give us more dollars.”

In another item, the board approved first reading to submit a renewal levy to the voters in November. The amount of the millage is still being reviewed by the state. The board plans its second and final reading of the proposal, containing the exact millage, for a special meeting at 8 a.m. Aug. 4.