Wednesday, June 23, 1999
Mason high school called a priority
BY MIRIAM SMITH
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON — A larger high school to fit up to 3,200 students should be built to help Mason City Schools deal with burgeoning growth.
And voters should be asked to help pay for the first phase of construction with a bond issue this fall.
Those were among recommendations made to the Mason school board Tuesday night by the Mason Schools Facility Steering Committee.
The committee, made up of 45 residents, parents, educators, and business and community leaders, developed the recommendations after two recent community meetings.
The board is expected to choose a multimillion-dollar building plan by Aug. 19, the deadline to file with the Warren County Board of Elections for a ballot issue. The board is expected to vote on whether to place a bond issue on the November ballot before the deadline.
Superintendent Kevin Bright said an operating levy to help pay for school staffing would have to be brought to voters “in close proximity” of a bond issue.
The building plan is expected to make room for another 5,000 students in the next six years.
As part of the first phase of construction, the committee recommended the new high school accommodate 2,400 students.
The current high school would be used for 1,500 to 1,600 seventh- and eighth-graders.
Recommendations also call for housing pre-kindergarten students in the Mason Early Education Center. Mason Heights Elementary and Western Row elementary schools would hold kindergarten through third grade.
The Early Childhood Center currently has pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and latchkey students; Mason Heights has grades 1-2 and Western Row has grades 3-4. Mason Intermediate, which has grades 5-6, and Mason Middle School, which has grades 7-8, would both have grades 4-6.
The second phase of the building plan would require a school for kindergarten through third grade and expansion of the new high school by 800 students.
The estimated cost of both projects is between $78 million and $81 million. No details on how much the projects would cost taxpayers was available Tuesday night.
Board President Russ Carter said the board would review the recommendations. “This allows us really to build what we need to stay up with growth,” Mr. Carter said.
Some residents raised questions about the size of the high school, whether current athletic fields would be maintained and whether students would be able to participate in sports and other activities. Mr. Carter said they would introduce more activities.
CLASSROOM CRUNCH
Mason City Schools officials predict the district's enrollment could double by the 2004-2005 academic year — from its present 5,354 to 10,317 students.
• The high school will be 548 students beyond its capacity in four years.
• About 25 percent of the land in the district has yet to be developed.
• Mason was the fastest-growing school district in Greater Cincinnati this year in terms of new students. Last fall, it gained 580.
• In the past 10 years, enrollment has increased about 110 percent while the district has built a middle school, elementary school and additions to the high school and two elementary schools.
• In four years, all of the district's facilities will be at or past capacity, officials said.
— Miriam Smith
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