By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
When Bowling Green Superintendent Ted Haselman first saw the wording of the master plan resolution, he was sure a mistake had been made.
Haselman got on the phone and called the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission to get the language corrected. But an OFCC official explained that the wording was necessary for Bowling Green City Schools to get the maximum state money for maximum square footage in the new high school.
Before the board of education voted on the master facility plan resolution Tuesday evening, Haselman emphasized that the wording from the OFCC does not match the school district’s high school project.
“We’re required to use this verbiage,” he said.
Haselman still doesn’t like it, fearing voters may think the district pulled a “bait and switch,” he said. He worries that the trust he has been building with the community is fragile.
But he realizes this is one of many hoops the school district must jump through to get OFCC money for the new high school.
“If we’re going to take state dollars, we have to play by their rules,” he said. “That’s what’s in their document.”
The master plan resolution from OFCC states the “scope of the project” includes the building of a new high school, renovating of Crim Elementary for pre-kindergarten through second grade, adding to the middle school to house second through eighth grades, and demolishing the current high school, Conneaut and Kenwood elementaries.
That wording reflects all of the previous plans submitted to OFCC in the past for funding, dating back to 2003, Haselman said.
“We are not planning to do all that work,” he stressed. The only project planned, and approved by voters last November, is construction of a new high school, demolition of most of the current high school, plus renovation of a section of the old high school for a community activity center.
As discussed last fall, leading up to the bond issue on the ballot, the resolution states the commitment from the OFCC to pay 17% of the new high school expenses that the state is willing to fund. That state share will be very close to $10 million.
Haselman reported bonds are in the process of being sold for the $72.8 million high school project.
The school board has acknowledged in previous meetings that the district must address its aging elementary buildings next. But Haselman said school leaders will be starting from scratch, not using plans from the past that were not supported by voters. A new updated master plan will be adopted at that point, with Haselman adding that he hopes to be part of that process as well.
A second resolution with OFCC was approved by the board Tuesday evening, this one agreeing with the requirement to earmark money for maintenance of the new high school. The district must provide the equivalent of 0.5 mills for 23 years for upkeep of the building.
The district does not need to pass another levy, since the maintenance money was figured into the bond issue passed last fall.
Haselman reminded that he would be holding his next coffee with the community on Thursday (1/18) from 8 to 9:30 a.m., at Novel Blends, at 116 S. Main St., Bowling Green.
