Facilities Planning Process

Facilities Planning Process

Planning Phases

For nearly two decades, the BCLSD Board of Education and administration have worked with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) to develop a facilities master plan. We needed to develop a long-term facilities master plan to address the needs of our students. The facilities planning process involves three stages – assessments, options, and decisions - to produce a master plan.The passage of a bond issue in November of 2009 to construct a new middle school (grades 5-8) was a direct result of the district working several years with OFCC on the facilities planning process. Following the middle school project, there were still several issues confronting the district. In November of 2013, voters rejected a plan, thus requiring the District to reexamine the options to address the needs.   As times change, facility plans may as well to address the changes to enrollment and the educational needs of our students.  

 

Assessment Phase

Assessments of the condition and costs to renovate or replace our elementary and high school facilities have been conducted in 2012 and 2017. The costs to renovate, due to the inadequate or very poor conditions, lack of adequate square footage, and site constraints, resulted in the OFCC recommendation to construct new facilities. Third-party facility assessment reports and enrollment projections were conducted as a standard part of this process.

Options Phase

Over the last few years, we have reviewed our plans with the OFCC, and gathered community input at meetings and through surveys, to address our immediate facility needs and present a fiscally-sensitive plan to our community. As a result, as many as eight (8) different facilities configurations, including new construction and renovation options, were carefully reviewed.

In the late spring of 2016, the District conducted a facilities survey in which we received over 750 responses from community members and staff. 82.13% of the respondents prioritized the need to address our elementary facilities. Respondents favored one elementary school be constructed near the center of our school district. Survey results also indicate the need and support for improving our high school facility. Opportunity for community input has taken place at numerous Board Planning Sessions and regularly scheduled Board of Education meetings. We engaged county officials and engineers, private engineers, architects, and local officials in the planning process. In June of 2016, we contracted with a civil engineering firm to conduct a site feasibility study. Seven (7) different locations throughout the district were analyzed as possible locations including existing school campuses, vacant property owned by the district, and vacant property not owned by the district. The purpose was both to provide general information and identify possible flaws or impacts which would prohibit the site from further consideration. Site factors being considered included physical features, roadway factors, public utilities access, environmental/ecological impacts, and district operations efficiency with student transportation and staffing. 

Decisions Phase

Beginning in August of 2017, the District entered the Decision Phase. The feedback gathered throughout the planning process has shaped the master plan finalized by the Board of Education in November 2017. The adopted plan is responsive to the needs and desires of our community. Prioritizing the need to address our elementary school and high school needs into two final phases allowed the District to present a conservative plan that our community could support as they did with Issue 3 in May of 2018.

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