West Geauga Schools passed a resolution Dec. 16 to place a $128,200,000 bond issue on the May 6, 2025, ballot to fund a combined-campus and new auditorium and field house for school and community use.
West Geauga Schools passed a resolution Dec. 16 to place a $128,200,000 bond issue on the May 6, 2025, ballot to fund a combined-campus and new auditorium and field house for school and community use.
Facility plans include moving the elementary schools (Westwood and Lindsey) into a renovated middle school and moving the current middle and high school into one new building with separate wings.
The resolution will next be sent to the Geauga County Auditor’s Office for certification and to determine the cost of the bond issue for homeowners per year per $100,000 property valuation.
School officials have been exploring facility upgrades and a combined-campus off and on since 2018, but talks were halted during the COVID-19 pandemic and when West Geauga Schools absorbed Newbury Schools in 2020, said Superintendent Rich Markwardt.
Following feedback from community and stakeholder meetings, the school board decided this year to move forward with the process.
During Monday’s meeting, Markwardt outlined the district’s master plan.
“One of the major emphases that came out of this master planning process was the desire to have all of our students on one campus,” Markwardt said.
It’s easier for parents to have their children, who may be of different ages, all in the same location, he said, adding the combined-campus would also allow for easier transitions for middle school students who take classes at the high school.
Administrators also discussed having all the schools in one building — similar to Berkshire Schools’ K-12 building on the Kent State University – Geauga campus in Burton — but believed the district was too large for that.
“We don’t feel that we’re a small enough district that we should be forced into one building for grades K-12,” Markwardt said. “So, it was a very large building and it was also very costly.”
The superintendent said $2 million of the bond is earmarked for renovations to the middle school.
When discussing if the district should keep the elementary school buildings once students were moved into the middle school building, Markwardt was not in favor.
“I have a problem just with the fact that buildings, when they’re not in use, tend to decay very quickly,” he said. “So, at this stage of the game, I think it’s pretty certain that Lindsey (Elementary) and Westwood would both be slated for demolition.”
Markwardt encouraged people to refer back to presentations from March, April and May 2023 on the district website for more information on the project.
