COAL GROVE ? Dawson-Bryant students, parents and staff will see new elementary school classrooms and high school building renovations take shape after the district starts a recently approved $12.

Monday, August 27, 2001

COAL GROVE ­ Dawson-Bryant students, parents and staff will see new elementary school classrooms and high school building renovations take shape after the district starts a recently approved $12.8 million construction project next year.

"First and foremost, we’ve been awarded the $12.8 million and it will not require an additional levy," district superintendent Jim Payne said.

In an Aug. 6 letter, the Ohio School Facilities Commission notified Dawson-Bryant that the state Controlling Board approved the release of the funds for the "classroom facilities assistance" project ­ making it the fifth district in Lawrence County undergoing construction.

The state will still require a local project share of $194,000 and maintenance expenses of $125,000. But, those monies will come from a state settlement of the district’s first building project and the district’s own capital improvement funds ­ avoiding the need for levy dollars, Payne said.

Planning for the project began some time ago, as the board sought ways to avoid going back to the voters for assistance, he said.

First, Dawson-Bryant will take advantage of a new law, House Bill 299, that permits school districts to use their own local contributions to eliminate a maintenance levy, the superintendent said.

Second, Dawson-Bryant will use money that the state is reimbursing to the district for required work that came in the wake of the mid-1990s construction project – which won voter approval to build a new high school and a three-story addition to the elementary, Payne said.

"We really feel the voters have gone above and beyond the call of duty to support us and we’re showing our appreciation by taking our local share out of that reimbursement and any additional (monetary matches) will come from our own permanent improvement fund," he said.

It’s a tribute to school boards since then, whose members continued to put money aside for a capital projects of the future, like this one; and it’s a tribute to current board members Kay Swartzwelder, Debra Drummond, Sadie Mulkey, James Beals and Les Boggs, who deserve credit for the time it took to develop this project proposal, Payne added.

The board has already secured architects Tanner, Stone and Co., voting in July to hire them if the money came through.

"The state has done its assessment and now we’re on a schedule to develop a master plan," Payne said.

Architects will start this week looking at all the property and starting on the plan. The district must move receive state approval before summer 2002’s expected start of construction.

Preliminary plans call for about $4 million in renovations at the middle school-high school complex, including fixes to the ventilation/heating/AC and general finishes. About $8.7 million will be used to replace the original 1954 structure at the elementary school.

By the project’s end, 48,600 square feet will be added to the elementary structure, then the original 25,200 square feet will be demolished. The work will not only include new classrooms and other student facilities but also will feature transportation fixes, Payne said.

The front of the school could end up situated away from Ohio 243, which it faces now, he said.

The district will discuss plans with staff, board members, and the community at future periodic meetings.

The district also understands that gaining a second construction project in less than 10 years is fortunate, even if somewhat expected, Payne added.

At the time, the state cut the first project back to what money was available.

"What the state has realized is that we weren’t given enough to complete the project as intended and now they’re coming back," he said.