Wiley, and pre-kindergarten through third grade programs would be offered on the Oxford, Canterbury, and Coventry sites. The other elementary and middle schools would close.

The District’s master facilities planning process, begun in early 2011, is nearing its final stage.

Based on community input and reaction to the two ideas presented at the February 22 community meeting, the planning team, made up of district administrators and architects, has been working to create a final plan design that supports the community’s educational needs and fiscal realities.

On March 20, that plan will be presented to and evaluated by the Citizens Facility Committee who began the process approximately two years ago. The plan, while not final, will represent the culmination of an immense amount of study, analysis, input, and revision from the Planning Team, the Facilities Committee, and the community at large.

The design will also be presented and refined by a series of small community information sessions before being rolled out at the large community meeting on April 18 at Cleveland Heights High School from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (The community meeting that was originally set for March 21 had to be moved to April 18 in order for the team to review all community feedback that was received through community meetings, coffees, the facilities blog, email, phone conversations, and letters.)

The New Plan that will be presented includes the following:

• Heights High (grades 9-12) located on the existing site. The historic core, football stadium, and swimming pool would be preserved and renovated. The many building additions would be demolished, and new space will be added to create a modern high school.

• Three intermediate schools (grades 4-8) located on the existing middle school sites: Wiley, Monticello, and Roxboro.

• Four primary schools (grades PK-3) would be in the renovated Roxboro, Canterbury,

Oxford, and Boulevard locations.

• At Roxboro and Monticello Middle schools, the historic core would be preserved, the many additions will be demolished, and new space added to create modern 4-8 intermediate schools. Fourth, 5th and 6th graders would be physically separated from 7th and 8th graders.

• Wiley Middle School would be demolished and re-built.

• At Canterbury, Roxboro Elementary, Oxford, and Boulevard, the existing buildings will be repurposed. Some of the interiors will be remodeled to accommodate the flexible learning spaces that are necessary for teaching and learning today and into the future.

The New Plan represents a further iteration of the work that has been done and presented to the community over recent months. At the February Master Facilities Planning Community Meeting, the planning team presented the community with two design ideas for the future of our schools.

However, because of community feedback, specifically around the importance of maintaining neighborhood schools, the New Plan was created to provide a realistic scenario that still met district and community needs.

The facilities planning team, with the assistance of each building’s PTA unit, will host several informal meetings at each of the schools. All are invited. These are informal meetings that will enable participants to ask questions freely and continue to offer suggestions. All meetings are open to the public.

March 20 – Noble Elementary, 1293 Ardoon, 7 to 9 p.m.

March 22 – Roxboro Elementary, 2400 Roxboro, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

March 26 – Fairfax Elementary, 3150 Fairfax, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

March 27 – Gearity Professional Development School, 2323 Wrenford, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

April 3 – Oxford Elementary, 939 Quilliams, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

April 4 – Canterbury Elementary, 2530 Canterbury, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

April 10 – Noble Library, 2800 Noble Road, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

April 18 – Heights High Social Room 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (childcare and refreshments will be provided)

• The purpose of the April 18 meeting is to bring a single idea, along with the financial plan to fund it, to the public. The public will again be asked to provide input on the plan and suggestions for making it the best plan possible for our students and community.

“As we move forward in the master facilities planning process, we want to assure our community that we are hearing and respecting all of the input we are receiving. We will continue to make refinements as needed,” said Superintendent Doug Heuer.

For those unable to attend the February planning sessions, those initial ideas were:

• Idea A would have created three campuses, each having one building for pre-kindergarten through third grade and one building for grades four to eight. The campuses would be located at Roxboro, Wiley, and Monticello. All other elementary and middle schools would be closed. The high school would be substantially renovated.

• Idea B would have created kindergarten through eighth grade campuses at Roxboro and

Wiley, and pre-kindergarten through third grade programs would be offered on the Oxford, Canterbury, and Coventry sites. The other elementary and middle schools would close.

Substantial renovations would be made to the high school.