MONROE — Building one, 200,000-square-foot building that includes separate gymnasiums and cafeterias for elementary and secondary students is the latest option for Monroe Local Schools.

        Drawings of each of five options will be offered for comment this weekend at Monroe's City Fest. The district's booth will be staffed by administrators, board members and architects from Steed-Hammond-Paul Inc., the firm that put together the plans. They were developed based on comments from a phone survey, design team and focus groups.

        Monroe voters will be asked Nov. 6 to approve a $29.9 million bond issue to build one or more schools, depending on the final facility plan.

        Superintendent Arnol Elam said he hopes to announce the plan this month.

        “It's a school for the entire community,” lead architect Michael Dingeldein said Tuesday evening when making a presentation before the Monroe Board of Education.

        “The main thing we heard from the community is age-appropriate separation and equal opportunity” for students in grades K-12, Mr. Dingeldein said.

        To accomplish that, a large central core could be built that would include a library accessible to the community.

        The core area also would include one kitchen with two eating areas — one for elementary and the other for junior/senior high students.

        There would be a large, competition-size gymnasium that could be divided into two for the junior/senior high school, and a smaller one for the elementary students that would be built adjacent to the elementary eating area. The core also would contain an auditorium for use by the community and elementary, junior or senior high school students.

        On one side of the core area would be a rotunda-shaped entrance for elementary school students.

        The other side would contain an octagon-shaped entrance for the junior/senior high school. The facility could be built on the flat area atop the hill at the recently purchased Matson Farm at the northeast corner of Ohio 63 and Yankee Road.

        Doing that would make the school visible in much of Monroe, Mr. Dingeldein said. The cost is about $29.9 million.

        Building the school would provide more classroom space than separate buildings because of less duplication, Mr. Elam said.

        For example, one large kitchen would serve all grades.

        “This isn't the final solution,” Mr. Dingeldein said. “We want to ask the community, "Is this what you had in mind?'”

        The other options for comment are:

        • Build an elementary school for grades K-6 and a junior-senior high school on one new site. The two would be built off of a central core area that would have space used by both schools such as a cafeteria, gymnasium and theater or multipurpose room.

        • Build one large school on a new site. Wings off the central core area would separate different grade level groupings.

        • Renovate the elementary school for grades K-6, construct a second elementary for grades K-6 on a new site and build a 7-12 school at a different location.

        • Renovate the elementary school for use as a junior high school, and build an elementary school and a high school on a new site.

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