Construction on a new security vestibule at Chardon High School will begin May 28 after Chardon Schools Board of Education approved a guaranteed maximum price proposal at their meeting May 20.
Construction on a new security vestibule at Chardon High School will begin May 28 after Chardon Schools Board of Education approved a guaranteed maximum price proposal at their meeting May 20.
Superintendent Michael Hanlon said the immediate area around the CHS entrance will essentially be shut off to all traffic starting May 28 and the construction schedule will be “aggressive” in order to complete the project by the opening of school in August.
“This will be a race to the finish for us to get this entrance back online for the first day of school,” he said.
The project will cost just shy of $550,000, according to the GMP.
Assistant Superintendent for Business Affairs Steve Kofol said the new vestibule will also incorporate a wheelchair-accessible ramp.
Plans to turn a Washington Street property the district acquired last year into a bus garage office space are moving forward, but Chardon Planning Commission approval is temporarily on hold until a traffic study can be performed.
The board approved a spending plan for phase one of the project that mostly involves demolition of previously existing hardscaping at the site, which sits at the corner of Washington and Fifth Avenue. Phase one of the plan will cost about $780,000.
Hanlon said once the proposed plan is approved — hopefully at their next meeting May 28 — the city will have to OK construction drawings.
“If all things came together in a perfect world, I think Steve (Kofol) would agree that if next year at this time, we were moving buses onto that compound, we’d be doing well,” Hanlon told the board.
The Chardon Early Learning Center — formerly Maple Elementary School — will be getting new gutters, as well. Hanlon said the project was folded into the portfolio being handled by the district’s construction manager at risk, which has shown substantial cost-savings.
On May 15, Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law new policies requiring every school district in Ohio to establish an official policy governing cell phone usage during school hours and aims to minimize student use of cell phones in K-12 schools.
According to a press release May 15, DeWine said the aim is to reduce distractions in the classroom.
“By limiting these distractions, we will reestablish the opportunity for students across Ohio to immerse themselves in their classwork, learn from their teachers and create lifelong memories with their closest friends,” DeWine said.
Hanlon told the board while the announcement attracted significant media attention, he does not anticipate any immediate revisions to the district’s current cell phone policy, which he said already complies with the new law.
“Essentially, what the governor is looking for is that cell phone use is limited to the extent possible during school hours. It does not, as I said, provide a full ban. I don’t anticipate that our district will be doing anything differently from what we are doing,” Hanlon said.
Cell phones, like artificial intelligence, have already permeated the culture, Hanlon said, adding phones in the hands of students are likely here to stay.
“Our primary responsibility as educators is to teach them to use those devices responsibly in the instructional setting and to, you know, to address issues when they arise,” Hanlon said.
With board members C.J. Paterniti and Todd Albright absent, the remaining three — board President Karen Blankenship, Andrea Clark and James Midyette — approved naming Albright to the board of the Auburn Career Center.
Albright will replace former Chardon Schools BOE member Paul Stefanko, who resigned last month over concerns with the handling of a lawsuit involving the teachers’ union.
