Bowling Green City Schools task force members support one new elementary, but the option does not have
the support of district leadership.
At Tuesday’s board of education meeting, Superintendent Francis Scruci said the work being done by the
task forces is invaluable in making suggestions on future facilities and how to fund those projects.
“I’m a little concerned with the recent polling of the task force which would indicate there is a strong
consideration for a consolidated elementary,” he said.
It appears the facilities committee has narrowed the elementary options to three, he said.
Those three include:
• Build a new consolidated elementary for prekindergarten to fifth grade
• Build a new Kenwood and a new Conneaut and renovate Crim. Each would hold grades prekindergarten-fifth
grade
• Renovate all three. Each would hold grades prekindergarten-fifth grade
While Scruci does not want to dismiss the hard work of the committee, he is reluctant to support the
one-school suggestion.
“My rationale is that a consolidated elementary, while I believe is the best proposal, our community said
no to that. Our communities have indicated neighborhood schools is what they support and this board …
has to consider the facts that we know from our two defeats.”
Consolidation is not what this community wants, Scruci said, adding that there has been discussion to
consider the high school project before the elementary issue.
Scruci also doesn’t support adding high school renovations to the current discussions.
He can’t argue that attention is needed at the high school, but “we need to focus our energies on the
most critical needs.”
The elementaries are out of space and the district will have to add modulars or have overcrowded
classrooms, Scruci said. Modulars can’t be a long-term solution and overcrowding has a negative impact
on the learning environment, he said.
Although the facility needs at the high school and elementaries are both important, “space is a
tie-breaker for me,” Scruci said.
Board President Ginny Stewart agreed that this is not the optimal time to finance both a high school and
elementary project.
At a previous meeting, she suggested segmenting the projects and that it makes sense to focus on the
elementaries and address the high school at a later date.
It appears that statement was construed as a mandate to the board, “which it was not,” Stewart said.
“I believe in a perfect world our high school should be the flagship of our school district. However,
given the fact … that administration believes there is a more immediate need at the elementary schools,
I do not feel confident that we can bring the high school and elementary school facilities to the
community with the same bond issue.”
The high school will not be put on the back burner never to be considered, she said, but now is not the
time.
She asked board members for input so they could come to a consensus and the community can understand
where they stand.
“I think the high school is the cornerstone of our community,” Paul Walker said. But he deferred to what
the facilities group comes up with what is needed for the elementary schools.
Jill Carr pointed out the space issues at the elementaries in her support of putting them first.
“I want to make sure our vision for the high school does not get lost,” she said, adding that she wants
to know how long it would be before work on that building can start.
It is important to recognize the efforts and contributions from the task force facilitators, said Norm
Geer.
“Anything that we do should take (their work) into consideration,” he said.
Stewart said she would like to ask the facilities task force members if they want to proceed with any
work at the high school.
The board also extended David Conley’s contract to another year, at $40,000. Conley is a financial
consultant with Rockmill Financial Consulting
His knowledge of school finance and tax policy has been critical to the board’s understanding school
finance, Stewart said.
Conley’s contract expires April 19 and automatically renews for one year, an option the board supported
4-0, with Bill Clifford absent.
“We’re lucky to have him,” Geer said.
“For the first time in the history of our school district, we are coming up with a very sound financial
plan. I don’t think we can do that without (Conley’s) expertise,” Carr said.