By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Some of those touring Bowling Green High School Thursday evening were sold on the need for a new building before they even got in the door.
Many were already familiar with the building’s deficiencies. Take Neal Allen, who was principal at the high school from 1979 to 1992.
“I wanted to see the needs of the high school,” Allen said. “Just so I can be knowledgeable if a levy comes up – which I’m in favor of.”
And Dick Burkholder, who taught at BGHS from 1974 to 2010.
“I want to see the condition of the building,” he said. “It’s been 12 years since I retired and there were needs then.”
“It seems like we’re behind the eight ball when it comes to what other communities are offering,” Burkholder said.
But not everyone was ready to buy into the new high school idea – like Jay Sockman, who graduated from BGHS in 1990.
“I just wanted to see what they had to say,” said Sockman, whose son is a junior at the school.
As Sockman walked down the hallway, he wasn’t yet convinced that a new building was necessary.
High School Principal Dan Black was a little disappointed at the tour turnout of about 35 people.
“I was hoping for more,” he said. “But St. Patty’s and 70 degrees – I get it.”
Black started the tour in the cafeteria, explaining that of the 925 freshmen through seniors in the district, about 815 attend the high school.
He talked about the changes in how students learn. The high school was built in 1964, when computers weren’t used in classrooms. Now all the students have Chromebooks that travel with them from school to home and back again.
“We ask kids to charge their Chromebooks every night. Some do. Some don’t,” Black said, explaining the classrooms have very few outlets.
“Education is changing, it’s evolving,” he said. “The way our students learn is different.”
The classrooms are small and traditional – with only one with a removable wall so classes can be combined for team teaching. The science labs are particularly small compared to modern labs – and some of the high school labs have been converted from regular classrooms so they have no access to water.
The steam heat in the high school creates sweltering rooms in one area of the building, with windows fogging up and mold growing in some classrooms.
Black acknowledged that the high school is in the process of getting mini-splits to help with heating and cooling of the classrooms and common areas.
“Which is something we’re really, really thankful for,” he said.
The school does not have a sprinkler system, and the restrooms can’t handle multiple toilets being flushed at the same time, Black said.
“There are water pressure issues throughout the whole building,” he said.
The building has one elevator and one restroom that can accommodate students using wheelchairs.
Black acknowledged that the number of students in the high school has dropped over the years, but that doesn’t mean the space is adequate for today’s students, he said. The district has more special education students, and no longer has teachers who travel to classrooms with their instructional materials on carts.
A few young couples joined in the school tour – checking out where their children will be going to high school.
“We’ve got two young kids, who will be coming through the school eventually,” said Ross McDermott, who toured with his wife, Erin Legalley – both who graduated from BGHS in 2008.
“Things have not changed much, which is surprising to me,” said McDermott, who is an emergency room physician at Wood County Hospital.
A school facilities committee announced last week that it has concluded the priority for Bowling Green City Schools is the building of a new high school. The proposal is looking at constructing the new building across the parking lot from the current building, Black said.
The condition of the high school was no surprise to Ken Rieman, who toured the building during a previous attempt to improve the district’s facilities.
“It’s old. I student taught here in 1973, and it hasn’t changed,” he said.
Rieman talked about the steam issues that plague the school.
“Those aren’t easy issues to fix,” he said.
There was no question in his mind that Bowling Green students deserve a new high school.
“Absolutely. It’s past time for a new high school. Look at other schools – we haven’t kept up with the times,” he said, noting that all the other districts in the county have new buildings.
A new high school would benefit more than the students, Rieman said.
“If the community’s going to move forward, we’ve got to have new schools,” he said. “A new school raises up the whole community.”
Carol Bell also talked about all the neighboring districts having new school buildings.
“People employed in Bowling Green aren’t moving to Bowling Green” because of the school buildings, she said, calling the high school “depressing and appalling.”
“It’s stuck in the 60s and 70s, and hasn’t moved forward,” Bell said. “It’s actually embarrassing. It’s time we do something.”
A second community meeting will be held to talk about the school facilities plan on Tuesday, March 22, at 6 p.m., in the Performing Arts Center.
