BY JOHN HOPKINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The last of four hearings on Cincinnati Public Schools' Facilities Master Plan was held Wednesday evening in Northside, drawing an array of concerns and support from the public.
At least 60 people attended what turned out to be a cordial public hearing at Chase School.
The school board is scheduled to vote on the plan Dec. 7. If the facilities master plan is approved, the next step would be to begin work on a financing and implementation plan.
Districtwide, recommendations call for 19 buildings to be taken out of service as educational facilities, with 12 of those to be replaced. Construction of five buildings is recommended. The total cost is set at $697 million.
Parents, students and teachers at schools in the city's northern neighborhoods turned out Wednesday to learn specifically about their schools.
The recommendation calls for closing Swifton, Pleasant Ridge and Winton Place. Winton Place and Pleasant Ridge would then be replaced with new prekindergarten-through-eighth-grade neighborhood schools. Students at Swifton would be sent to Losantiville, Roselawn-Condon or Bond Hill.
The plan urges the building of a new prekindergarten-through-eighth-grade neighborhood school between College Hill and Mount Airy. Other schools would be renovated and - or expanded in some fashion.
Jani Coffey, one of about 15 people to speak at the meeting, said she supports the concept, but took issue with the finality of the talks, as if they have "already come out as a done deal."
School officials say it will take at least three years to complete any new construction.
Barb Boylan of Northside wanted to know more about that process. "I want to know how this is going to be prioritized and whose school is going to be worked on first," she said.
Most of the speakers were concerned about Pleasant Hill, a school recommended for renovation for use as a prekindergarten-through-eighth-grade neighborhood school.
Some who attended praised the committee's 18-month efforts. But there also was some sarcasm when it came to Jacobs Center. It's a high school that already works, said Robert Sturdevant of Mount Washington. "All we need is vision," he said.
Superintendent Steven Adamowski said much was learned from the hearings. "There are going to be changes in the plan, and hopefully they will reflect the comments you and others have made during these hearings," he told the gathering.
