Students at Fairport Harding Middle and High School would continue attending classes in their current building throughout the construction of a proposed new school in the Fairport Harbor School District.
To make the new pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade school a reality, voters in the district must approve a $5 million bond issue, estimated at about 3.9 mills, in the Nov. 2 election.
Some questions have arisen about whether the middle and high school students would be displaced, since informational fliers have said that the new school would be constructed “on the existing Harding High School site” on Vine Street.
However, School Board President Tom Fazekas explained at a Sept. 8 town-hall meeting that the new school would be built on green space that is adjacent to Harding — along New Fourth Street, near the intersection of Vine — rather than within the footprint of the existing building.
“It essentially is flopping the green space for construction space,” Fazekas said during the meeting, which was held at Fairport Harbor Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7754. “As we move through this process, (after) one building goes up, the other building will come down.”
The existing football field, located adjacent to the school at Vine and Third streets, will remain in place.
Fairport Harbor Schools is counting on voter passage of the bond issue to secure $38.5 million from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission to co-fund the $43.5 million project. Based on those financial contributions, taxpayers in the Fairport Harbor School District would cover 7 percent of the project cost, while the state commission is committed to paying for 93 percent of the endeavor.
The bond issue and a permanent improvement levy are mentioned in a single ballot question on the Nov. 2 ballot.
If approved, the bond issue would cost taxpayers $136.50 annually per $100,000 in property valuation. The additional property tax revenue would be used to repay the bond — which is similar to a loan — on an annual basis over a maximum of 36 years, according to the ballot question.
The continuous permanent improvement levy would cost $17.50 per $100,000 in property valuation on a yearly basis. At 0.5 mills, the issue would bring the district about $30,000 a year in revenue for school maintenance.
So combined, the bond issue and levy would cost Fairport Harbor School District taxpayers about $154 annually per $100,000 in property valuation.
If the ballot issue is approved on Nov. 2, Phase 1 construction of the pre-K through grade-12 school could start as early as the spring of 2022, district Superintendent Domenic Paolo said at the town hall meeting, which was sponsored by Friends of Fairport Harbor Schools.
Paolo said it’s too early at this point to estimate a completion date for the project.
The new school would be more energy efficient and less costly to operate than Harding Middle and High School and McKinley Elementary, Paolo said.
“(Harding and McKinley) continue to require expensive Band-aids, and these aren’t real fixes, they’re patches,” he said. “And I can’t even calculate the custodial time we spend in repairing and maintaining these buildings.”
The McKinley and Harding buildings are 110 and 100 years old, respectively, Paolo said.
In addition, Paolo said the new pre-K through grade-12 school will be built with enhanced security features, and help regulate vehicle traffic better, with additional parking so that people aren’t backed up on the roads.
Once the new school is built and occupied by all district students, McKinley Elementary, located on Plum Street, and Harding Middle and High School will be demolished. Costs associated with tearing down the schools is included in the co-funded total project cost.
Fazekas said Fairport Harbor Schools would take steps to remember the important roles that McKinley and Harding played in the district’s history.
“We have plans as part of our design to capture and preserve certain architectural details from both buildings moving forward,” he said. “We’ll have multiple opportunities for people to visit. And I’m sure we have a great many talented photographers in the community who will take great joy in capturing the memories that these buildings have given us.”
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Fairport Harding students would stay in current building during construction of new school - News-Herald.com
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