By Jennifer Mrozowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

There won't be any shortage of greenspace for students attending a new school planned for the East End, thanks to a land swap the Cincinnati school district is negotiating with the Cincinnati Park Board.

The park board Thursday agreed to transfer 10.3 acres of its riverside land on the "Turkey Ridge" site at Delta and Kellogg avenues to Cincinnati Public Schools. A preschool-through-12th-grade East End school estimated at $19.7 million is planned for the site.

Cincinnati Planning Commission, City Council and the school board still have to vote on the land swap, but school district officials say the groups are likely to approve the transfer in January.

The new East End school would serve students of McKinley and Linwood schools, which are slated to close as part of a $1 billion construction project planned for Cincinnati Public Schools.

"The community was interested in this site because it's central to the two schools and three communities being represented here - East End, Columbia Tusculum and Linwood," said Mike Burson, the district's director of facilities.

School officials said the new school is needed because McKinley and Linwood are woefully outdated (built in 1876 and 1929, respectively) and lack adequate area outside for children to play.

E-mail jmrozowski@enquirer.com