Coronavirus: Northeastern postpones groundbreaking for new schools

Northeastern Local School District has postponed its May 15 facility groundbreaking to a date in the fall.

Northeastern Local School District has postponed its May 15 facility groundbreaking to a date in the fall.

The Northeastern Local School District has postponed a groundbreaking for its new schools after Gov. Mike DeWine announced schools would remain closed for the rest of the academic year.

“It is important to our leadership that our students and staff have an opportunity to be part of this historic event, which is why we chose to originally schedule the groundbreaking for a school day in May,” said Superintendent John Kronour. “In order to give our students and staff that opportunity, we will reschedule the event for a later date.”

RELATED: Northeastern resolves budget issues, moves forward with construction

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new prek- 12 schools, originally scheduled for May 15, has been postponed to the fall at a date yet to be determined.

The postponement will not impact the work schedule for the projects, Kronour said.

“We are excited to celebrate the groundbreaking of the facilities project with our community, but our top priority is the health and safety of our students, staff and community,” he said. “We look forward to the day we are able to all come together to celebrate this important step for our entire community.”

The district will update the community on the progress of the project on Wednesday, April 29.

READ: Coronavirus: Decision to close schools answers one question for Clark, Champaign, creates more

District officials were able to resolve budget issues by redesigning the project to reduce costs for the new schools in January to move forward with construction that was postponed in July 2019.

Voters approved a 37-year $79-million bond issue in May 2018 for the two new prek-12 facilities. In addition to the bond, the state will contribute 40 percent, or $40-million, to the project through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC).

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