BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP -- Vocational programs operated by the Butler County Joint Vocational School District at the Manchester Technical Center will end in June 2000.
That's when the five-year lease between the school and the Middletown - Monroe Board of Education expires. The lease will not be renewed, Jason Champagne, marketing coordinator for the joint vocational school, said Tuesday.
Programs now housed at Manchester in Middletown will be moved to the D. Russel Lee Career Center in Fairfield Township, which might be expanded, Mr. Champagne said.
About 270 high school students are enrolled in vocational programs. They would move to the Lee Center when the lease expires, Mr. Champagne said.
A feasibility study to either expand the Lee Center or construct another building there has started, said Michael Oler, president of the Butler County Joint Vocational School District (BCJVS) Board of Education.
"That school was built as a middle school, and it would take a lot of money to bring it up to standard," he said Tuesday. "We'd have to have a long-term lease before we'd ever consider spending that kind of money."
In 1995, Middletown - Monroe signed an agreement with the joint vocational school district. It called for the BCJVS to pay Middletown - Monroe $1 a year in annual rent, plus utilities and building renovations. Two adult day programs and three full-time programs at Manchester along with classes on computer education and other general-interest topics would also move to the Lee Center.
"This allows us to move on with our facilities needs and plans," said Edmund Pokora, treasurer for Middletown - Monroe Schools. "We've heard rumors circulating for months they wanted out." A Sept. 28 report prepared by consultants in cooperation with Middletown - Monroe's Facilities Committee and Business Education Collaborative recommended the Manchester complex be renovated and used as a middle school for grades 5-8. The cost to upgrade the school was estimated at $1.5 million.
Besides the renovation costs, Mr. Oler said, the BCJVS had concerns about operating its program at two separate sites.
Centralizing at one location will cut down on busing students and other expenses, Mr. Oler said.
The Lee Center was built as a vocational school and is a newer building, Mr. Champagne said.
