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Poland school board OKs consolidation of schools
POLAND
Changes are ahead for the Poland School District after the school board unanimously approved what officials call a “redistricting” plan that includes elimination of an elementary school and consolidation of school buildings.
Beginning with the 2015-16 school year, the North Elementary building will be used for preschool and after-school programs. Kindergarten, first and second grades will move to Union Elementary, third and fourth grades will go to Dobbins Elementary, and McKinley Elementary, the middle school and the high school will stay the same.
Currently, North, Dobbins and Union are K-4 schools while McKinley is for fifth- and sixth-grade students. Beginning with the 2017-18 school year, McKinley will be used only on an as-needed basis, and fifth- and sixth-grade students will move to the middle-school building.
“It was our intent for the district to provide the best education we could for the students, with the least negative impact as we move forward with the redistricting,” school board President Elinor Zedaker said at Monday night’s meeting. “In addition, it is our intent to retain faculty and staff.”
The plan, which Superintendent David Janofa says has the potential to save the district between $2 million and $2.5 million over the next five years, is a response to a sharp decline in enrollment, which currently stands at 2,071 students. Between 2002 and 2015, district enrollment dropped by 469 students, according to an Ohio School Facilities Commission study. The study projects that the district will lose an additional 308 students by 2024.
One way to manage the problem would be to allow open enrollment, but the school board says that option is not on the table.
The enrollment projection was done as a preliminary step for a partnership between the school district and the OSFC, which presented additional information to the board Monday night. The district must decide whether it will accept the state commission’s offer to renovate or replace school facilities. The district would be responsible for 81 percent of the cost, which officials estimate would be about $50 million.
A draft of one master plan being considered by the school board includes construction of a new facility for K-5th grade, a new building for 6th-8th grades and renovations to the high school. The total millage needed to fund the project would cost the owner of $100,000 home $211 per year, Janofa said.
The school board has not decided whether it will pursue the state’s offer, saying it is in the “exploratory” stage of the process.
District officials will host a town-hall meeting at the high school at 6:30 p.m. Monday to discuss the issues. Additional information is available at www.poland-bulldogs.com.