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Greenville Schools
Facilities Commission tours Ohio Schools
By Lyn Bliss, Senior Scribe
www.darkecountyseniors.us
About 25 members of the Greenville Schools Facilities Committee, formed
recently to develop and finalize a Master Plan for the District, toured
two facilities similar in nature to what may be recommended for the
plan. Both facilities – Parkway School (Rockford) and Wapakoneta
Schools – were designed by Garman/Miller Architects-Engineers (Minster,
Ohio) – a firm that has been working closely with the Greenville School
District.
The GSD has solicited input from the community in planning for any
possible future projects. The Greenville Board of Education (GBOE)
included approximately 45 residents of the district and county to form
the committee to develop and finalize a Master Plan. If the District is
to take part in the Ohio School Facilities Commission’s (OSFC)
Classroom Facilities Assistance Program (CFAP), a Master Plan must be
developed.
At the group’s first meeting, a tour of other facilities was determined
to be among the actions needed prior to reaching a consensus regarding
a master plan for the District.
Parkway is a totally new facility built with steel/metal frame and
block walls. It houses all grades and is LEEDS certified. The design
allows for very efficient heating and cooling, reducing those costs
drastically from the old facilities. Cooling is accomplished by
freezing water during non-peak hours and then circulating air over the
ice.
Wapakoneta has done a combination of remodeling and new construction.
Their geo-thermal heating system is extremely efficient – providing the
district with considerable savings.
The OSFC has assessed the facilities in the Greenville School District
and recommends that Woodland, East, South and the Junior High be
removed from service; with renovations being recommended for the High
School. There are two rules upon which these recommendations are based.
The schools must have a student population of more than 350 and the
renovation costs must exceed more than 76 percent of the replacement
cost of the building.
If the Master Plan developed includes new buildings, then under CFAP
the District would have one year to receive the approval of the voters.
That would mean there would be four opportunities to place the issue on
a ballot – November 2011; February, May and August 2012.
OSFC is offering $18-26 million for new and/or renovated school
facilities. This money covers only academic items: construction, loose
furnishings, land survey, soil borings, landscaping, sidewalks,
driveways, parking lots, PE softball fields, demolition/abatement and
LEED. Other items that would require a Local Funding Initiative (LFI),
receiving no state funds, are additional classrooms, land acquisition,
auditoriums, spectator gyms, district administration offices,
football/baseball/soccer/tracks, computers, and bus garages.
In addition to a master plan, the CFAP program requires that at least
two schools be included in the plan for funding. Several options have
been previously presented by Miller and Quinter as possibilities. These
included different replacement/renovation options and the cost involved
in each. However, it will be up to the Facilities Commission to
recommend a master plan to the GBOE.
The Facility Committee will be holding three more meetings during which
they will work on finalizing a Master Plan they will recommend to the
district.
Members of the community wishing to contribute input are encouraged to
contact Susie Riegle or Jon McGreevey at (937) 548-3185. Riegle may be
emailed at: sriegle@greenville.k12.oh.us and McGreevey may be
emailed at: jmcgreevey@greenville.k12.oh.us
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