By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Bowling Green should build a new high school and seek voter approval of the funding in November.
These were the key recommendations made by the Special Facilities Advisory Committee at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting.
It’s now up to the board to act on the recommendations
Speaking for the committee, Tara Loar said that 82 percent of the committee members said the district should build a new high school for grades 9-12, instead of a partial demolition of the existing school with a new addition.
They also said that facility should be built on the existing parking lot, and not constructed in phases.
High School Principal Dan Black said that doing it in phases would cost as much and take twice the time, and create logistical problems for the administration trying to continue educating students.
The advisory committee, Loar said, also agreed overwhelmingly to get started by putting the bond issue on the November ballot.
The advisory committee proposal calls for retaining the existing gyms, cafeteria, music facilities, locker rooms, FAA space, and shop area. These spaces are in such demand that the new school will have new spaces for these facilities as well.
Black noted that the gyms are used by youth sports, who end up practicing as late as 10 p.m. just so they can get in the gym.
Whether those spaces would also be renovated would be up to the board, Black said.
The committee, Loar said, recommended the high school project because it was deadlocked on what was needed on the elementary level. Half the members favored two new elementary schools at the Kenwood and Conneaut sites, while the other half favored having one new elementary school. The committee left that decision for another day while conceding that improvements are needed at the elementary level.
The high school project “was the path of least resistance,” Loar said.
The committee has been meeting since September. She said she felt the process went well.
The committee included “people from all over the school district who don’t always get a chance to connect and work together,” Loar said. They had different views. “The one thing we could all agree upon was that there wasn’t much we could all agree upon.”
The exception, however, was there was near unanimity on the need for the district to upgrade its facilities.
After much deliberation, she said, 87 percent also agreed the district should not seek funding from the Ohio School Facilities Commission.
Superintendent Francis Scruci also gave an update on the progress of installing mini-split air conditioning in the high school and Kenwood and Conneaut elementary schools.
Work is wrapping up on the second floor of the high school and at Kenwood, with work expected to begin at Conneaut during the first week of May.
The chillers will be installed by the end of the school year, Scruci said, but there are supply chain issues with securing electrical components.
Still, he said, the work will be completed for the start of school in August, the hottest time of the school year.
The board voted to transfer $1,289,654 from the general fund to Capital Projects. This is money paid by the Rover Pipeline.
The work, which is being done by Earl Mechanical Services, will cost $3.3 million.
[RELATED: BG Schools’ air conditioning bids come in lower, but job will be slower]
