Middleburg Heights City Council Hears School Reconstruction Plan

Berea City Schools' Superintendent Michael Sheppard presented the district's $112 million reconstruction plan to the Middleburg Heights City Council on Tuesday, according to Cleveland.com.

“Our buildings are continuing to get older and we’d like to be able to provide our students with new innovative learning environments as soon as possible,” Sheppard told Patch.

Sheppard previously pitched the proposal to the Berea and Brook Park City Councils. The plan was designed to address the dwindling enrollment rates, expensive potential renovations and the need to balance their $80 million budget. It would include:

• The closure of Brookview and Brook Park Elementary Schools for the construction of a $75 million high school in time for the 2020-21 school year.
• The $25 million renovation of Big Creek Elementary School, Ford Intermediate School and Middleburg Heights Junior High School, including doors, windows, rooftops, asphalting and HVAC system repairs.
• The moving of Brook Park Elementary School students to Ford Intermediate School.
• The moving of Ford Intermediate School students to Middleburg Heights Junior High, which would change from 7th through 9th to 5th through 8th; 9th grades would move to the 10th through 12 Berea-Midpark High School.

Like Berea, Middleburg Heights was receptive to the idea.

"All the buildings are inefficient, and I just wanted to commend the school district for trying to stay on top of the inefficiencies of the buildings," Councilman at Large David Bortolotto told Patch.

“I think they were appreciative of the information,” Sheppard said. “I think they [will] take some time to go out in their communities and gather feedback and put together a proposal looking forward.”

Brook Park showed resistance to the idea of closing schools, but Sheppard compromised with the proposal to replace Ford Intermediate School with a $22 million elementary school. They would leave the Ford auditorium standing, converting it into a performing arts center.

Despite any optimism felt at these meetings, however, the plan is still reliant on passing an estimated $3.8 million bond issue. It would enact a $153 tax for every $100,000 in home valuation. In April, the board will consider putting the bond issue on the November ballot. If the property tax does not pass, the district would still close Brookview and Brook Park Elementary Schools for renovations. It would still be costly and may lead to another proposed tax increase.

“We still have two major issues to deal with, that is the declining enrollment and also the ailing facilities,” Sheppard said. “So you would need to invest some dollars in moving forward in consolidating and reorganizing the buildings we are currently using.”