AC-WH Career Center board moves to secure state funds
Ashland County-West Holmes Career Center Board of Education has taken a step to secure state funding to cover part of the cost to upgrade the school building to meet future educational needs.
The board voted at its May 20 regular meeting to participate in the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission’s vocational facilities assistance program after hearing an update on the school’s facility master plan from a representative of the engineering firm SHP of Columbus.
The career center board hired SHP in December 2019 after the OFCC put the school at the top of the list of career-technical schools for state aid to make improvements to the 48-year-old building.
The company developed a master plan for renovations that includes clustering major programs with outside access and clustering academic programs with more flexible class space. The plan was revised after SHP determined the Ashland County Service Center Building next door has enough space to accommodate the career center’s adult education programs and administrative functions if the board buys the building.
SHP representative Brandi Bresser told the board the OFCC recently approved the revised plan and set the state’s share of the estimated cost at $10.9 million with the district covering $34 million, which includes all of the cost of renovating the county building. She said some of the figures changed because of inflation and revised enrollment projections that called for 29 fewer students than in the original master plan.
“That is significant information because they fund based on students,” Bresser said. “Although we saw an increase in cost, we saw a decrease in the overall master plan because of the enrollment projection.”
Career center superintendent Rod Cheyney said the state looks at population projections for the next 10 years at the district’s home schools, goes class by class and plugs the figures into an algorithm based on the percentage of home-school students that make up the career center population. He said officials tried multiple times to convince the OFCC that current enrollment is higher than what they are already predicting and is expected to be higher next school year.
“They also look at what the state average (population) is for career tech, and we are above state averages for percentage of students from the home schools,” Cheyney said.
Tri-County Educational Service Center representative Forest Chanay said the board also should consider advances in technology as it updates the building. As an example, he said the career center currently has no facilities or curriculum involving electric vehicles.
“I think we really need to consider, at least in that area, what impact that may have on the studies so far,” Chanay said. “If we don’t take care of that now, everything we’re going to be doing for a 47-year-old program is basically rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic because we’re going to end up not having what we need 10 years from now.”
Bresser assured the board they’re still working on specific spaces in the master plan and can divide up space when the time comes, noting there are extra cost factors built in if more space is needed. She said the career center would need a levy of a little over one mill to cover the costs involved with the master plan as it stands now.
The next step is for the OFCC to formally approve its share of the renovation costs, which is expected in June. The career center board then must decide whether to do just the school renovation or include the county facility. Officials determine the size and length of a bond issue or levy and pass the resolutions needed to put an issue on the November ballot. The deadline to file an issue with the board of elections for the fall election is Aug. 4.
The career center board also approved a state-required five-year financial forecast that shows an increase in expenses — partly the result of employees for projected new programs — and a flat revenue stream, except for a spike this year due to property reappraisal. Ashland City School District representative Brian Lefelhoc was concerned the forecast projects income to be up around $300,000 while expenses are expected to grow $1.3 million for the five-year period.
“If we approve the forecast, we’re approving that we know that the iceberg is in the distance and we’re headed right for it,” Lefelhoc said. “I’ve said that I won’t approve red ink, and I’ve also said that when it shows like this, we need to know what the plan is to avoid the iceberg.”
Treasurer Julie Smith said state revenue will be uncertain until the Ohio Legislature approves a new two-year budget, which is not expected until late June.
In other business the career center board:
—Approved new health insurance premium rates that show increases for general coverage as well as dental and vision.
—Accepted the resignation of assistant principal Allen Wilson, effective July 31.
—Approved food services prices for fiscal year 2022.
—Accepted a $63,000 bid from England Station Enterprises for the house built by the construction technology class.