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Poland school board continues facilities discussion
POLAND
The board of education is in the midst of making some big decisions about the district’s future.
One of those decisions, which the board discussed at a meeting Monday night, is what to do with old school buildings should the board decide to build new ones.
Superintendent David Janofa laid out options for the board to consider: renovate, demolish, sell or donate.
After the board’s decision to reorganize the district by consolidating elementary schools, moving the district’s preschool program and eventually closing McKinley Elementary, district officials turned their attention to the future. They have been seeking community input on a state offer to help build new facilities that would require a bond issue to cover all of the estimated $46 million cost.
The proposed plan, on which the board has not yet taken action, would be to build a kindergarten- through fifth-grade building at North Elementary’s current site, build a sixth- to eighth-grade facility on the high school’s campus and renovate the high school.
The state would cover 19 percent of the cost. The earliest students could move into new facilities would be January 2019, but the board must soon decide whether to put the issue on the ballot.
At a town-hall meeting earlier this month, Janofa presented community members with a range of options to address the district’s aging facilities. In the past few months alone, aging infrastructure has caused some serious issues, such as a failing boiler system at the middle school that could end up costing the district hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace.
Board members indicated that all options still are on the table with regard to old school buildings if they choose to move forward with the construction proposal.
“In the village where these schools are located, it’s an R-1 residential district,” board President Elinor Zedaker said, pointing out the potentially difficult process of putting the buildings to other use.
Zedaker also urged residents not to worry yet about losing the old schools.
“Don’t go away feeling that we’re tearing down these buildings next week, or over the summer while you’re on vacation. It’s a very methodical process,” she said.