Troy school board OKs land purchase for 2 proposed elementary schools

Credit: HANDOUT

Credit: HANDOUT

The Troy City Schools Board of Education voted Monday to buy land off of Ohio 55 as the home of two proposed elementary schools.

The $733,375 purchase of 58.67 acres, at the southwest corner of Ohio 55 and Nashville Road, is contingent on voters passing a construction bond issue, board President Doug Trostle said.

The acreage, in Concord Twp., is owned by Don Isern and his sister Ann Huegel.

Trostle said the school district will seek to annex the land to Troy.

Trostle called the land purchase "a monumental step" in the schools project.

Board member Michael Ham said, "It is a very exciting time for us."

The board voted in July to place a 4.61-mill bond issue for the schools on the November ballot.

The district is working with the Ohio School Facilities Commission on building plans and is eligible for 33 percent state building construction funding.

The 30-year bond issue is designed to raise the district's share of two schools for pre-kindergarten through sixth grade plus high school improvements. It includes 0.5 mills for permanent improvements, as a required use for Ohio School Facilities Commission funds.

The district now has six elementary schools, a sixth-grade building, a junior high and a high school.

District resident Nicole Hall told the board Monday she and others in the Concord Elementary School area are concerned with the plan to consolidate to two elementary buildings.

"We were hoping for more of the hometown feel" offered by smaller schools, she said.

Trostle said each building population would be "modestly" larger than Concord school's today.

The estimated cost of the construction project is $63.3 million. The local share is $47.9 million.

Current estimates show the elementary building local costs at $42.4 million. The balance would be for updates at the high school.

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