Fort delays discussion of school construction (04/25/07)

FORT RECOVERY - School board members here decided to put off discussion of a possible construction project at Fort Recovery High School until November.

Approximately 50 community members attended the two-hour meeting on April 16 and voted to not hold another public meeting until November, when the future of a proposed constitution school funding amendment is decided.

The amendment, which needs more than 402,000 signed petitions by August 8 to be put on the November ballot, would protect state funding for schools, require the state to pay a higher portion of the cost, reduce the number of local property tax levies and identify the cost of quality education, according to information from the Ohio Education Association website.

According to information from superintendent David Riel, a majority of community members at the meeting were not interested in construction of a consolidated school.

This project would cost an estimated $6.3 million, based on 2007 engineering costs per square foot.

The state was tentatively offering the state $1.3 million to rebuild or renovate the high school. This project was estimated at $11.4 million, meaning $1.3 million coming from the state and $10.1 million from local tax dollars.

In February, school board members voted to reject the state funding for the school construction project. State construction guidelines must be followed if a school accepts the state funding.[[In-content Ad]]