The Tuscarawas Valley (Ohio) Local School Board has approved a project to renovate and expand its existing middle school building to house students from pre-kindergarten through the sixth grade.
The Times-Reporter reports that the renovation is part of a $53 million plan that will bring the district closer to its goal of having all of its students on a single campus.
Converting the middle school to an elementary will be completed without a bond issue. The district is using tax revenue from the Rover Pipeline, which was built through the northeastern portion of Tuscarawas County. The state is assisting with funding, providing 39% of the money.
The district now operates four buildings: a high school and a middle school in Zoarville, an intermediate school in Bolivar and a primary school in Mineral City.
A new high school/middle school is under construction in Zoarville and is set to open later this year. At that point, the existing middle school will be closed for renovations and conversion to a preK-6 elementary.
Having all students on one campus will be in the best interest of the district and meet its enrollment needs, Superintendent Derek Varansky said.
The existing middle school building, opened in 1996, will be brought up to code and reconfigured to handle a different student population. A large addition will be built on the righthand side, with five kindergarten rooms, five first grade rooms, a pre-school room, an intervention specialist room and a reading intervention space. The addition will have its own office and a separate entrance.
The existing high school building, which opened in 1961, will remain. At a future date, the classroom portion of the building will be demolished.
The heart of the building – the district offices, the auditorium, gymnasium and cafeteria – will be preserved. Varansky said district officials want it to become a community center.
