By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green City Schools has outdated buildings, dropping enrollment, and deep wounds from divisions over the best solutions for improving school facilities.
Since August, a group of school and community members has been meeting to collect information about the school district’s facilities and the options for improvement. The advisory committee has been searching for a solution that can unite the community and improve the learning environment of the district.
In March, the entire community will be invited to two meetings to hear the recommendations of the Facilities Advisory Committee. In turn, the committee will listen to feedback from the community.
The meetings are scheduled for March 9 and 22, both at 6 p.m., in the district’s Performing Arts Center.
According to the “facilities planning” information on the school district’s website, the members of an advisory committee view a new high school as the highest priority. The committee is split 50/50 on whether the district should build one or two new elementary buildings.
The cost estimates for the buildings vary based on if they are built for the 2015 enrollment projections or based on current enrollment.
The information gathering effort is being led by Fanning Howey, an architecture and engineering firm that has worked with 190 school districts in Ohio on building issues. In Wood County, Fanning Howey has worked with Perrysburg, Eastwood, Northwood and North Baltimore school districts.
The effort started last fall with a Facilities Core Committee, made up of nine people – the superintendent, two board members, two principals, school facilities director, treasurer and two community members.
From there, a larger Facilities Advisory Committee met. That group included up to 80 teachers, parents, community leaders and business leaders. Less than half of the members were school district employees.
The group toured the school buildings and held visioning sessions with school staff. They studied the strengths and weaknesses of the buildings, and looked at different school and classroom models.
During Tuesday’s board of education meeting, the board voted to approve a revised resolution of intent to participate in the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission Expedited Local Partnership Program.
The ELPP permits a school district that is not yet eligible for school construction funding to enter into an agreement with OFCC. The agreement allows the district to spend local resources for new construction or renovation of existing classroom facilities. The local resources spent are later applied to the district’s share of the basic project cost when it becomes eligible for Classroom Facilities Assistance Program funding.
Scruci explained that the resolution is a formality in case the district decides to seek the ELPP funding.
“It does not mean that we are going to take it, or not going to take it,” Scruci said.
Once public input is gathered at the March meetings, then digested by the advisory committee, recommendations will be made to the school board on the best course of action for the district’s buildings.
