Troy schools leaders focus on elementary buildings

The board met in a nearly three-hour work session to talk about finances, working with the Ohio School Facilities Commission on potential funding (33 percent state share) and moving forward with community meetings on a project targeted for the November ballot.

Superintendent Eric Herman and district Treasurer Jeff Price outlined OSFC discussions and plans for obtaining community input in coming weeks.

The board remarks indicated support for prekindergarten through grade six for elementary schools versus the separate sixth grade building today or adding sixth grade at the junior high.

Possible building project master plans reviewed included four elementaries for prekindergarten through grade six in configurations of four building with all of those grades and two building each of prekindergarten through second grade and third through sixth grade. The OSFC wants at least 350 students in each building for a district to qualify for funding.

Herman said school leaders talked with city officials about available land, including park property adjacent to or near the existing elementary buildings

Herman said the time has come for something to be done with the schools.

“To do nothing is not really an option,” he said. “If nothing else happens, we have to do something about capital improvement levy money.”

The district has been spending $685,000 a year from a capital improvement levy for building repairs after removing from that fund expenses for buses and technology.

Still, Herman said, “we can’t keep up.” A study of district building needs looking at HVAC, plumbing and electric, resulted in an estimated bill for renovations of around $51 million. The estimate included no brick and mortar or roof work.

An OSFC assessment of buildings found the cost of renovating would not be that much less than building new, Price said.

The board heard the district could spend up to $43 million (with a 30-year debt schedule) for a project and, if 33 percent state funding is desired and approved, have a total project of around $64 million.

An elementary buildings project might be combined with a smaller amount of money to address critical need areas at both the junior and high schools until another building project could be explored down the road, said school board President Doug Trostle.