Aurora residents question school district's building plan

About two dozen Aurora residents didn't let a severe thunderstorm keep them from a public input session on the future of school buildings in their district.

Mike Roberto, superintendent of Aurora City School District, presented a proposal for a "campus" of school buildings that would involve building a new high school, and moving younger students to existing buildings within the district.

Wednesday's session was the first of two public input sessions on the plan. A second gathering was set for 7 p.m. Thursday, also at the ACSD Conference Center, 119 W. Pioneer Trail, in front of Aurora High School.

Crowded schools

Roberto previously has said the plan is designed to address anticipated increased student enrollment. The district also hopes to move out of the 113-year-old Craddock Elementary School, which is at the end of its useful life and is getting costly to maintain.

Leighton and Miller elementary schools are so crowded, Roberto has said, that classroom "trailers" have been brought in to provide extra space. And, as students in those schools move up, it is expected to put a burden on the district's middle and high schools.

Plans for the school buildings

Roberto presented a proposal for a new high school on a field between the existing high school and middle school. The existing high school then would become the new Aurora Middle School.

The new high school would be three stories, which would require a small height variance from the city.

The remaining buildings − Harmon, Leighton and Miller − would house elementary students. Harmon, the former middle school, would become an intermediate school for grades three to five. Leighton, the current intermediate school, would become a primary building for grades one and two, and also house the district's preschool. Miller, which now houses the preschool and kindergarten, would become a kindergarten building.

Exact cost estimates are not available, and are expected to be set during May or June board of education meetings. A chart of cost breakdowns of a potential levy would be distributed to residents between August and October, in anticipation of a bond issue on the November ballot.

Would overcrowding be fixed?

Roberto presented the proposal as a "generational plan" that will cover the district for many years.

But some residents questioned whether the new buildings will be immediately crowded once students moved in.

Roberto said the Ohio Schools Facilities Commission projects the district will see 200 more students over the next decade. The district is watching kindergarten enrollment closely, to gauge what eventually would become high school enrollment.

"We really feel this is going to account for all the growth Aurora is going to have," he said.

Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Aurora residents question school district's 'campus' building plan