Northeastern holding community meeting this week regarding new schools

First floor floor plans for the new Northeastern Local Schools pre-K through 12th grade school. CONTRIBUTED

First floor floor plans for the new Northeastern Local Schools pre-K through 12th grade school. CONTRIBUTED

Northeastern Local School District will hold a community facilities meeting on Thursday to discuss the floor plans for the district’s new Kenton Ridge school.

“We’ll be providing update, answering questions, and discussing the floor plans for the PK through 12 Kenton Ridge building,” a Facebook event created by the district said.

Northeastern is in the process of finalizing floor plans for the two new schools — with a price tag of nearly $120 million.

MORE: Northeastern outlines construction start dates for new schools

One campus will be adjacent to the current South Vienna school and will be ‘Northeastern PreK-12.’ The second campus will be on the property near Kenton Ridge High School and will be ‘Kenton Ridge PreK-12’.

Construction is expected to begin on the Kenton Ridge school in early 2020 with students slated to move in at the start of the 2022/2023 school year, according to Mike Ruetschle, lead architect on two building project.

The Northeastern school will see construction beginning late this year, possibly in December, with a projected completion date of winter 2021/2022, Ruetschle said previously.

Funding for the schools will come from local and state money. Voters approved a 37-year, $79 million bond issue in May 2018 by a margin of 56 percent to 44 percent. In addition to the bond, the state will contribute another $41 million to the project through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, bringing the total cost of the two schools to $120 million.

Because planning is further along for the Northeastern school, the public was able to see floor plans and a virtual walk through of the school during another community meeting in April.

MORE: 3 Clark County districts building new schools over next five years

The school will be split into three multi-story buildings. The first building will be located to the left of the center building and will host PreK-6, as well as other classrooms. Grades PreK-3 will be on the first floor and the rest will be on the second floor.

The second building will be located in the middle of the complex and will house two gyms, student dining, a kitchen, locker room, music room and space for other electives.

The third building, located to the right of the center of the building, will house 7th and 8th graders on the first floor with high school students on the second.

The buildings will be connected by a lobby and a media center.

Northeastern Local School District Superintendent John Kronour said previously the community has been important in deciding the floor plans of the schools.

“We want to make sure we are going to deliver what the community wants,” Kronour said. “They paid for them. We want to make sure that these school last for years, because they will stand long after teachers that are teaching here now are gone, long after current students are gone.”

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