TUESDAY, JUNE 27, 2000
State offers Tiffin district $7.9 million toward new middle school
By Cathy Willoughby
Staff Writer
Tiffin City School officials took the first official step Monday night toward building a middle school.
The board approved a resolution for the district to participate in the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission Exceptional Needs Program, which would provide 52 percent of the cost of a new building for grades 7-9. School administrators learned they were among those granted funding last week.
The total cost is estimated at $15.2 million. The state's share would be $7.9 million, with the local share that must be raised being $7.3 million. The district has one year to pass millage to raise the local share of the construction costs or the state money will not be offered.
During a meeting in Columbus with the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission to gain the program's approval, the commissioners stated that they felt Columbian High School needed at least 77,000 more square feet to meet state standards for the high school population.
They noted that up to 18 classes take place outside the high school, and said that is unacceptable.
Board President Dawn Iannantuono reiterated the importance of community support for the proposed building to become a reality.
"In the next few weeks, this board will need to decide when to go on the ballot for matching funds, what to do with the junior high and middle school buildings,'' she said. "And we will go for another levy for additional space at the high school to ease its continuing space problems.''
Funds were included in the grant total for demolition of the Tiffin Middle and Junior High structures, although Iannantuono said no decision has been made about the buildings. The district was urged to include those funds in the total, in case they would be needed. The board was told that the funds would not be available for demolition at a later time.
"This is one of the most decisive evenings I have spent on this board in the last seven years,'' board member Chris English said. "We have worked in the past to get additional funding for improvements to the buildings in the district. After the fourth defeat for minimal millage to improve the schools, we contracted with a firm to do a district assessment. They told us everything we already knew.
"Now, after being evaluated by an architect and state evaluators, we have a chance to bring state funding back to Tiffin, Ohio,'' he added. "Now this grant will help us start the process of rebuilding our buildings.''
The board members also stressed that Columbian's space problems will have to be dealt with, also.
"When we went to Columbus, we got an idea of what the state thinks of our high school -- that 60 percent of it needs to be renovated or replaced,'' English said. "The state's requirement for replacement or remodeling of a building is, if the costs exceed 66 percent, they will consider replacement. Now, Columbian is ranked at 60 percent; if we wait until 2006-07, it will likely exceed the replacement cost.''
Ballot language for building improvements in the district besides the proposed middle school will be separate, Iannantuono said.