“It is past time,” board member Theresa Dunaway said.
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The board will continue talking about the facilities at a special work session scheduled Monday at 12:30 p.m. at the board of education offices. The discussion involves returning board members Spano, Dunaway and Andy Venters along with new members Corine Doll and Joellen Heatherly, who were elected in November.
The board has discussed for several years options for addressing and paying for classroom needs and aging buildings, particularly the Broadway Elementary, built in 1951, and Nevin Coppock Elementary, built in 1958, as well as the need for improvements to L.T. Ball Intermediate School and Tippecanoe Middle School.
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The district’s newest building is Tippecanoe High School, which opened in 2004.
Gary Pfister, district facilities director, told the board Jan. 8 those who see the buildings daily understand the need for action, particularly at the elementary buildings. District Treasurer Dave Stevens said the cost of maintaining those building continues to rise.
A proposal to replace the elementary buildings with a new pre-kindergarten through grade three building in 2016 was defeated soundly by voters. Board members and administrators said they learned from that defeat that residents wanted a plan beyond just the elementary buildings.
While looking again at the best proposal for replacing the elementary buildings, the board Jan. 8 also heard a presentation on a possible program to update L.T. Ball and the Middle School under House Bill 153. That law allows districts to borrow money for such projects and pay the debt using existing dollars such as permanent improvement funds. A $7.3 million project was outlined and the board discussed a possible community meeting in coming weeks to explain the possible project to the community.
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“I think it shows the community we are listening. We heard a lot of, ‘don’t take all of our buildings down,’” Pfister said. “There is a lot of life left in those buildings.”
Other topics the board said need to be included in discussions are how to get the community involved in discussions and whether a project would be paid for 100 percent locally or if the district should work with the Ohio School Facilities Commission on receiving some state money toward a project.
The facilities plan also would include athletic facilities, including the proposed stadium project at City Park. An effort to raise $4.9 million privately for a facility is underway.
Contact this contributing writer at nancykburr@aol.com
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