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Feeling the aches of growing pains

BUTLER COUNTY It's simple mathematics: growth = people = students = the need to house said students.

And Butler County is seeing growth.

In 2000 the population was 332,807 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That number climbed to 346,560 in four years.

Area school districts are dealing with that growth through renovations, remodeling and construction of new schools.

Administrators in Hamilton City Schools are currently preparing for Phase III of their master facilities plan; in the Ross Local Schools renovations and maybe the construction of a new elementary school are on the horizon; Badin High School is preparing to put the finishing touches the Pfirman Family Activity Center; a new elementary school in the Talawanda School District is scheduled to be completed June 30; and the Lakota Local School district is looking at renovations to Lakota East and West high schools and construction of two new elementary schools. Other schools and districts are also in the midst of or preparing for construction.

Hamilton City Schools

Phase III is the last step of the Hamilton City School District's $176 million master facilities plan. It includes building eight or nine elementary schools depending on enrollment projections by the Ohio Facilities Commission, the total renovation of the remainder of Hamilton High School, and converting the old high school gymnasium into a cafeteria and building a new gym.

Administrators were told in September by the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission they could receive funding for the schools in July.

Board President Larry Bowling said official notification about when the district will receive funding is expected in late May or early June.

Fifty-nine percent of the funding for the project will come from the facilities commission, 41 percent from local funds.

The site committee recently presented board members with nine potential sites for the new schools. If all goes as planned, the new elementary schools could be open for the 2009-2010 school year.

"It's time to get excited," said Bowling, who has served on the district facilities committee since its inception 18 years ago.

Plans are to construct four or five schools at a time.

"The most optimistic, but I also think realistic, projection is that we will be announced for our money in July of 2006, with a bond issue being placed on the ballot in November 2006," Bowling said. "When that passes, we will be able to begin construction when the weather breaks in the spring of 2007."   

Lakota Local School District

Two new elementary schools, a new freshman school, additions to Lakota East and West high schools, and expansions and repairs to other schools are now possible after voters approved a 7.73-mill combined operating levy and bond issue in November.

The levies will raise about $12 million annually for daily operations and $84.3 million for construction. 

"We appreciate that our community has provided space for our students," said district spokesman Jon Weidlich. "Right now we are kind of holding our breath as several of our elementary schools are very overcrowded. We are looking at some temporary plans to address that until the new schools are opened."

The district is currently using 20 portable classrooms which are housing 39 classes.

Current enrollment for the Lakota Local School District is 17,000, making it the seventh largest district in the state.

The district has been averaging 500 new students a year for the last 12 years and projections are that enrollment will jump by 400 students a year over the next several years, Weidlich said.

District officials have looked at "anything you can imagine including renting other space and redrawing boundaries," he said.

The elementaries will be built on donated land on Smith Road in western West Chester Township and Cincinnati-Dayton Road in Liberty Township at a cost of almost $13.8 million each. The schools will house students in grades one through six and are scheduled to open for the 2007-2008 school year.

Both Lakota East and Lakota West high schools are scheduled to get about 56,000 additional square feet of educational and office space.

The additions include new classrooms, lab areas and a lecture hall.

"Moving dirt" to begin construction of the elementary schools is scheduled to begin early this spring, Weidlich said.

The high school additions will begin later this year, as will the rest of the projects including the new freshman building designed to serve the Lakota East attendance area.

Renovations at the high schools are scheduled to be completed by March 1, 2008.

The freshman school — located on Bethany Road in Liberty Township — is scheduled to open for the 2008-2009 school year.

Middletown City Schools

A bond issued passed by Middletown voters in 2004 made possible the $78.5 million needed for construction of six new elementary schools and renovation of Amanda Elementary, an existing school.

Schools at the McKinley, Creekview and Wilson sites are nearing completion and are expected to open this fall. Renovations at Amanda are also nearing completion.

These projects represent the first half of the district's elementary school improvement plan.

Three new schools to replace Mayfield, Rosedale and Wildwood elementaries will be built in the second half, and the current Rosedale building will be renovated for Central Academy.

Design work for the second-phase schools will begin this spring, and construction could start in summer 2006.

New Miami Local School District

New Miami Local School District board members in February unanimously approved a combined five-year income tax and bond issue for the May 2 ballot. If approved, the bond issue will finance a proposed athletic complex.

The proposed five-year income tax will be used for operating expenses to support the after-school/summer programs, add a math/science teacher and keep the district's resource officer.

"The New Miami athletic complex project is the last piece of our school district's athletic master site plan," Superintendent Bud Bierly said. "Construction of the football field, community fitness center and all-weather track addresses and meets a number of community needs."

The May 2 levy benefits children while addressing facilities that are not currently in the New Miami School District and not available to residents, Bierly said.

The athletic complex would include a community fitness room, an all-weather track, a new football field, a new press box, a sound system, a scoreboard, bleachers and a concession stand, all on site.

It will take about five months from the start of design to completion and occupancy of the complex.

Parochial Schools

• Badin High School: The dedication of the 28,000-square-foot Frank Pfirman Family Activity Center took place on Oct. 1. The center houses two full-size basket ball courts, baseball mezzanine, kitchen and concession facilities, rest rooms and storage.

Phase II — locker rooms and training center, wrestling area, fitness center and a music education room — is expected to be completed by the end of August.

"The plans are ready, and now we need to get bids and move forward," said Dirk Allen, school spokesman. "We appreciate all the support we have received from the Badin community."

• Queen of Peace: Meeting the needs of a growing community, parishioners at Queen of Peace Church broke ground in December for construction of a multi-purpose facility and the addition of six rooms to Queen of Peace School. Plans for "Vision 2012" include construction of a multi-purpose facility that includes a full-size high school gymnasium, retractable bleachers (seating for at least 300), two rest rooms; two team rooms, and six rooms to the existing preschool through eighth-grade school. Included in the additions will be a science/computer lab, music room, art room, preschool classroom, kindergarten classroom and faculty/staff workroom.

Ross Local School District

Last year high school students in the Ross Local School District began the 2005 - 2006 school year in a new, state-of-the-art building that cost nearly $23 million. Completion of Phase I of the facility plan also gave students at Elda Elementary School room to "spread out," and get closer to technology.

Additions and renovations included a new media center complete with 25 computers, a spacious kindergarten room, two new classrooms, a conference room, new art and music rooms, and a new gymnasium completed in December 2004.

The new high school and renovations at Elda Elementary are part of a $50 million project with two phases.

Phase One included a 15,000-square-foot addition to Elda along with renovations to the school and the new high school — the district's first major construction in 21 years.

A 6.25-mill bond issue passed in November 2002 will generate approximately $25 million toward the $50 million project. The Ohio School Facilities Commission has said it will pay $24 million toward the project, a 48-percent match.

State funding is expected to be allocated in 2010 and will trigger Phase Two: additional renovations at Elda, an addition at Morgan Elementary, renovations and additions to the current middle school which houses grades six through eight, and the building of a third elementary school if needed due to district growth.

"We've been very pleased with the new building and the renovations that we have been able to do over the past three years," said Assistant Superintendent Greg Young. "Our enrollment is continuing to grow and we are hoping to be able to accommodate our students until we receive the additional funding from the state."

In the last four years, district enrollment has increased by 332 students.

Young said that district administrators are currently hosting a series of community coffees to "gather feedback from the community regarding how to handle growth in the short term prior to getting the state funding."

Talawanda School District

The Talawanda School District's new elementary school, located in Milford Township, is scheduled to be completed by June 30.

Classroom space in the new building will be able to accommodate roughly 450 pupils. The first floor will contain 12 large classrooms with plenty of room for storage, five offices, rest rooms, a gymnasium, cafeteria with a stage and music room. The second floor will contain 15 classrooms, offices, rest rooms and a media center with an oval glass window that looks out above the main entrance into the parking lot.

To date, all the exterior brick work has been completed, classrooms on the first floor are painted, and classrooms on the second floor are being cleaned in preparation for painting.

"A lot of happened since we got under roof," said district spokeswoman Holli Morrish.

Administrators received a master schedule in December and construction has "stayed on task since we got it," Morrish said.

"We are really pleased that we put an issue on for a new elementary and voters passed that, and then relatively quickly passed a levy for operating expenses."

Moorish said there was a need in the district for an elementary school after Stewart Elementary was closed in 2003.

"We feel that our community knows when we have a legitimate need in the district, (and) they step up to the plate."

Cox News Service reporters contributed to this report.