Austintown prepares to level six schools for green space

By Elise Franco

efranco@vindy.com

Austintown

School district officials say demolition is the best option, after looking into what to do with six soon-to-be-vacant school buildings.

Superintendent Vince Colaluca said the construction of two new elementary schools isn’t scheduled for completion until the 2013-14 school year. But the school board has already discussed what will happen to four current elementary schools — Lloyd, Lynn Kirk, Watson and Woodside — as well as Davis Elementary, which closed in 2008, and Frank Ohl Intermediate School.

Colaluca said because the Ohio School Facilities Commission is paying for $27 million of the $50 million project, money has already been earmarked for demolition of those six buildings. The district passed a 2.9-mill bond issue in May to raise the remaining $23 million.

The plan will unify the district into one central campus on property near Watson Elementary and Frank Ohl Intermediate schools, Colaluca said. The two new schools will house students in kindergarten through second grade and third-to-fifth-grades, respectively.

“There’s a component in the agreement with the OSFC for demolition and abatement,” he said. “We’ll then bring those properties back to green space.”

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com