Sunday, February 14, 1999
Talawanda may get new high school
Superintendent presents plan
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
OXFORD — A new high school may be built in the Talawanda district as part of a five-year facilities plan recommended this week by Superintendent Susan Cobb.
The plan calls for construction of a 1,200- to 1,400-student high school, renovation of the existing high school for use as an elementary school for grades kindergarten through five, closing and selling Stewart Elementary School and redistricting of elementary students.
The new boundaries would allow the district to move to a “neighborhood schools” concept, with each elementary school housing children in grade kindergarten through five, Ms. Cobb said. Sixth- through eighth-graders will continue to attend Talawanda Middle School.
“We believe this will increase parental involvement and allow for more interactions among teachers,” Ms. Cobb said Friday.
The recommendations follow several months of study prompted by a need to either close or extensively remodel Stewart Elementary. Results of a community survey conducted last fall by Wright State University showed support for the kind of improvements recommended by Ms. Cobb.
The exact costs won't be determined until architects have drawn up plans for the new school and renovations of the others. Ms. Cobb said the board has selected Skillman Corp. of Indianapolis to serve as construction managers. An architectural firm should be selected by mid-March.
As outlined, the plan could cost as much as $37 million, but because the district's debt limit, under Ohio law, is $33 million, final project costs would have to remain under that figure, said board President William Vollmer.
“We've done a lot of visiting, a lot of talking to people who have new high schools,” Mr. Vollmer said. “We think this project will set the district up for a long time if our projected enrollments are right.”
Ms. Cobb said educators have begun looking for sites for a new high school. A minimum of 50 acres is needed, although a 60- to 70-acre site is preferred.
To fund such a project, a bond issue is being considered for November, Mr. Vollmer said. It would be combined with an operating levy to pay for day-to-day operations, hiring additional teachers to meet the requirements of new legislation and a pay increase for teachers. With a 1997 starting salary of $22,117, Talawanda ranked eighth out of nine Butler County school districts, Ms. Cobb said.
“This plan is driven by programming,” Mr. Vollmer said. “We need to be doing things differently, but with a 1956 high school, it's difficult. Our facilities are dictating what we do.”
The board has until August to determine millage to get the issues on the Nov. 2 ballot.
“The determining factor for me will be the location of the high school,” Mr. Vollmer said. “If I don't believe the location is what's best for the district, I'll vote no.”
Mr. Vollmer said he'd like to see a centrally located site because of the district's size, about 144 square miles from the Indiana line to Hamilton.
It encompasses the city of Oxford and parts or all of the townships of Oxford, Reily, Milford, and Hanover in northwestern Butler County, and a portion of Milford Township in southern Preble County.
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