TPS board votes to renovate Scott High

11/7/2008

Scott High School will be renovated, the Toledo Board of Education decided Friday morning.

A unanimous vote by the school board during a special meeting authorized the district to amend the final segment of the district s building plan to renovate the historic school in the city s Old West End instead of building two new small high schools.

"This is a real indication of the board and the community working together," board member Darlene Fisher said. "The conclusion of the Scott renovation is a long time coming."

Voters passing Issue 35, the $37 million bond issue, on Tuesday provided the local money needed to put Scott back into the building program.

Renovation of the building is expected to use $5.8 million in local funds with the Ohio School Facilities Commission paying for the bulk of the costs. The commission covers 77 percent of Toledo Public Schools entire building plan with the remaining 23 percent coming from local funds.

Originally it was thought that up to $14 million in local money would be needed to renovate Scott, but a reassessment recently completed brought that number down to $5.8 million by focusing on usable space in the building.

At its peak in 1931, Scott High School had 2,379 students. Enrollment has since fallen to about 1,000 students. The school opened in September, 1913.

"We are tickled pink," said Jeff Nelson, a leader with the Save Our Scott coalition who lives in the Old West End neighborhood. "To me it s a no-brainer that we ve got to save our history and our heritage."

Following the meeting, the district held a short press conference to thank voters for passing both the bond issue and the renewal levy on Tuesday.

Superintendent John Foley also encouraged parents to attend parent-teach conferences, which will be Thursday and Friday next week. Participation last year was up five percent at the elementary level to 87 percent and up nine percent to 45 percent at the middle school level, but Mr. Foley said he would like to see more parents involved in their child s education.