The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission completed a thorough assessment of school buildings and recommended the consolidation of schools and construction of new buildings across the district.
A five-year enrollment projection is 7,392 students for the 2028-29 academic year, compared to last year’s enrollment of 7,550.
Through a partnership with OFCC, Kettering City Schools is eligible to receive 43% for the base cost of construction, according to consultants from Ruetschle Architects.
Segment 1 of the construction process would involve replacing the two middle schools with one school of about 1,600 students on the Fairmont campus; tearing down and building a new academic wing at the high school; demolishing Van Buren Middle School; and making necessary improvements to keep the elementary schools — to be addressed during the plan’s second segment — safe, warm and dry.
The cost of the first segment is an estimated $222 million, with a local share just under $163 million, according to a master plan draft presented to board members by Jeff Johnson, director of business services, during the board’s Tuesday work session.
The middle school building, two or possibly three stories, would have more than 220,000 square feet, with nearly 62,000 dedicated to 50 classrooms and 13 science/STEM spaces in the academic core, according to a draft. The building would face Far Hills Avenue.
At Fairmont, a nearly 180,000-square-foot addition, also two or possibly three stories, would replace the current academic wings. Of the new space, about 85,000 square feet would be used for 61 classrooms and 17 science labs. Draft plans call for a new entry to the high school in the addition, facing Delaine Avenue.
The district is working with the city of Kettering as it studies the potential traffic flow at the campus to determine the best pickup and drop-off sites for parents and buses to avoid cars backing up along Far Hills Avenue and Shroyer Road.
One problem identified with the city is the need to potentially move the traffic light from Winding Way to Blue Gate Circle to avoid cars blocking Kettering Fire Department’s Station 32.
“I just want to emphasize this is very preliminary. This is really the first kind of rough draft of it in the study,” said Superintendent Mindy McCarty-Stewart.
Another forum is planned for 6 to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 19 at a location to be announced later.
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