Saturday, January 15, 2000
New school stays empty
Springboro waits to move pupils
BY SUE KIESEWETTER
Enquirer Contributor
SPRINGBORO — No classes from Clearcreek or Jonathan Wright elementary schools will move to Springboro Elementary School before the 2000-01 school year begins.
The decision not to move students mid-year to ease crowding came this week after the Springboro Board of Education discussed a six-page report prepared by Stephen Bartalo, director of education services. Mr. Bartalo outlined 13 reasons why administrators and teachers preferred to move after summer break as originally planned during last November's levy campaign.
High on the list were issues related to student and staff safety, special education programs and the logistics of busing students from Springboro Elementary back to the other buildings for art, music and physical education classes.
“They would be isolated over there and not able to participate in assemblies or special programs,” Mr. Bartalo said. “It would be harder to secure the building with only a few classes in the building.”
Other reasons cited in Mr. Bartalo's report included a lack of computers in the new building; the cost of hiring staff and acquiring some equipment earlier than planned; a lack of time to orient students, staff and parents, and concerns that moving teachers from building to building mid-year would require bargaining with the teacher's association.
Board vice president Gary Ihle said he is disappointed the school won't open before next fall, but said there isn't enough time to ready the building for this school year.
“I have felt for a long time we should be utilizing that building,” Mr. Ihle said. “It's awfully late now to do anything.. Realistically, the timing is wrong.”
Opening Springboro Elementary School was part of a master plan put together for the 1995 campaign to pass a bond issue that provided money to build a new high school, move junior high students to the old high school, and convert the junior high into a third elementary.
The five-year, 3.33-mill emergency operating levy that passed in November was the district's fourth attempt.
It provides about $382,000 for staffing for the new building plus utilities. It will also provide for day-to-day operating expenses district-wide.
Next fall, Springboro Elementary will open for students in grades four and five. Kindergarten and first grade students will attend Jonathan Wright, with second- and third-graders assigned to Clearcreek. Each of the three schools will have about 550-600 students when they open. There are about 800 this year at Clearcreek and Jonathan Wright, Mr. Bartalo said.
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