3 Clark County districts building new schools over next five years

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Three Clark County school districts will spend more than $220 million to build or renovate schools by the end of the 2022/2023 school year.

Based on current and past reporting by the Springfield News-Sun, here is everything we know so far about ongoing school construction projects at Greenon, Northeastern and Clark-Shawnee Local Schools:

Greenon Local Schools

MORE: Greenon gives public first look at designs of new $50M school

Greenon gave the public their first look at what their $54 million kindergarten through 12th grade school will look like at a community meeting last month.

The new building will be constructed on the current site of the Indian Valley Intermediate School, however, Indian Valley will remain open during construction.

Indian Valley will close once the new schools opens, as will Enon Primary and Greenon High School, as the new building will be for all students in the district, but will be divided so that students of different age groups won’t intermingle.

Ground was broken for the school in September 2018 and construction is slated to begin after final pricing occurs, which will take place in this month or early May, according to Charlie Jahnigen, lead architect on the project said.

“Once we have completed pricing, then we can officially begin construction,” Jahnigen said. “Final pricing can take a while because we want to make sure we are getting the best deal.”

Funding for the construction will come from an approved $36 million bond issue that passed by 500 votes in May 2017. The 6.98-mil bond will cost a taxpayer who owns a $100,000 property in the district about $20 a month. The state will pick up $18 million of the costs through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission,.

As of now, construction on the school is scheduled to be completed by January 2021.

Northeastern Local Schools

MORE: Northeastern outlines construction start dates for new schools:

Northeastern is constructing two new school buildings, one located on the northeastern side of the district and the other located on the Kenton Ridge side.

The total cost of the schools will be around $120 million, some of which will be funded by the state.

Lead architect on the schools, Mike Ruetschle, said earlier this month that the northeastern school is slightly ahead in the planning process compared to the Kenton Ridge site.

“We see construction on this site [Northeastern] happening late this year, 2019,” Ruetschle said. “We expect construction to be complete by the end of the 2021/2022 [school year], with a winter break move in.”

Funding for the schools will come from local and state money. Voters approved a 37-year, $79 million bond issue in May 2018 by a margin of 56 percent to 44 percent.

In addition to the bond, the state will contribute another $41 million to the project through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.

Northeastern has held multiple community meetings looking for input about the construction projects. Northeastern Local School District Superintendent John Kronour said the community has been important in deciding the floor plans of the schools.

Clark-Shawnee Local Schools

MORE: Clark-Shawnee to host groundbreaking ceremony today

Clark-Shawnee held a groundbreaking ceremony in October to kick off construction of their $52 million pre-K through sixth grade school building.

The school will be built across the street from Shawnee High School, which is undergoing a major renovation. School board officials said in late 2017 that they are hoping to finish the pre-K through sixth grade building in the fall of 2020, with renovations to the middle/high school to be finished in the winter of 2021.

Voters approved a $37 million bond issue in August 2017 to build a new elementary school and renovate the middle/high school. The bond issue was for 5.3 mills for 37 years and will cost the owner of a $100,000 house a little more than $15 a month.

The state will cover about 30 percent of the cost for the project - about $15 million.

The district has held multiple community forums and events to gather ideas from residents about the new school. The district has also toured surrounding schools that have been recently built.


School years when new Clark County schools are slated to open:

2020/2021: Clark Shawnee Elementary School

2021/2022: Renovations at Clark Shawnee High School

2021/2022: Greenon Local Schools

2021/2022: Northeastern Local Schools

2022/2023: Kenton Ridge, Northeastern Local Schools

The Springfield News-Sun is dedicated to covering issues important to local school communities, including new school construction projects.

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