Tours aim to inform Fort voters

FORT RECOVERY — Pat Niekamp wants to make sure voters make an informed decision.
“The board’s effort has been to get as much information out as possible,” the Fort Recovery Schools superintendent said this week.
An issue on the November ballot will decide whether this community builds a new high school addition to the pre-kindergarten through grade eight building or walks away from $5.52 million in promised state funding.
“It’s been a tough decision,” said Niekamp. “We have been debating this for five or six years.”
So that voters can make their best judgment, guided tours of areas of Fort Recovery High School that are in need of repairs or renovation will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 6, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. There will also be an informational meeting at 7 p.m. in the high school commons.
Niekamp estimates the informational session will last about half an hour.
“We’ll have maintenance guys around” in case visitors want to inspect things close up, Niekamp said. “There’s a lot of things in terms of infrastructure that need to be addressed.”
Under the plan to be weighed by voters:
•The Ohio School Facilities Commission would provide $5.52 million from the state’s tobacco settlement money.
•Local property taxes would provide $5.34 million.
•An addition of 47,000 square feet would be constructed on the east side of the current building, running parallel to the elementary and middle school wings.
•Fort Site Gym, the commons, and the current vocational agriculture area would be preserved. But the gym would be used for after-school events, not physical education classes. Vo-ag classes would be in the new addition, and the old space would be re-purposed, perhaps as a weight room or fitness center.
•Four classrooms in the elementary school wing would be re-purposed to create two science labs and two special education rooms.
•Two new elementary school classrooms would be added to the grade three through six wing.
•The current kitchen would be re-worked to handle larger student capacity.
•The 1935, 1953, and 1960 portions of the high school would be razed.
The board took a long look at renovating the current high school building, but if OSFC dollars are accepted for renovation the work has to be done to OSFC standards, which would actually make it more expensive than building new.
Niekamp also noted that OSFC dollars might not be available for such a project in the future.
The proposal would result in 20,000 fewer square feet than the school system currently has under roof due to the elimination of some classrooms. That would result in reduced heating and cooling costs.
The new addition would also be built to higher energy efficiency standards.
The issue on the November ballot calls for a 4.4 mill levy to fund the local share of the construction cost. School corporation officials have estimated that would translate into an estimated cost per year of $134.75 on a home with a market value of $100,000.
If approved by the voters, construction would be likely to start early in 2012 with completion expected early in 2014 and the old buildings demolished later that year. Wednesday’s tour session is the second to be held since July, and Niekamp said another one is possible.[[In-content Ad]]