The Niles Times
The school board is supporting the recommendation to tear down the visitor side of the high school football stadium to accommodate the new McKinley High School, but there are other concerns for the district.
"The Ohio School Facilities Commission has decided that we are going to lose 300 students over the next 10 years based on enrollment projections," Superintendent Rocco Adduci said Thursday at the regular meeting of the Niles Board of Education.
The school district disagrees.
"Our enrollment has remained stable at 210, 220 per class," he said. However, the third-grade class is large, with 245 students, and the kindergarten coming in already has 227 students enrolled.
The total student population has remained stable at 2,800 pupils for years, and Adduci said he doubts the state's projected decrease will come to pass.
As it is, the state is considering withdrawing about $3 million in support from the 5.3 mill, $68 million building project voters approved last fall.
Adduci said he met with state officials Thursday to debate the enrollment figures, taking in his own historical data. If the state decision stands, the project may have to be scaled back.
The school board expressed support for the plan to tear down the visitor stands and build new ones to make more room for the high school. That will allow a more logical layout for the building, building project officials have said.
Board president Marlene Rhodes said she was comfortable with the plan during Thursday's board of education meeting.
"The architects have assured us there will be no disruption of home events, she said, and the finished visitor stands will blend in with the new school building."
In other business, the board approved Richard Havrilla's resignation as the Junior Varsity Baseball Coach. They also granted a one year contract with Laura Revetti as a Teacher of Exceptional Children at Jackson Elementary School and approved supplemental positions to Michael Calderone, assistant varsity football; Zachary Connell, volunteer football; Kyle Leonard, assistant varsity football; and Vincent Melillo, volunteer football. The personal service contracts are for one year each.