Note: This story has been updated to reflect new information from the school district about the playgrounds under construction this summer and to correct the title of Deputy Superintendent Mike McDonough.
Voters in Hilliard City Schools approved a new $142-million bond issue for three new elementary school buildings and other improvements to district facilities last year.
Crews are already redoing several playgrounds and adding security vestibules, while the district works on plans to build the new schools.
All of the buildings will be the same design, said Deputy Superintendent Mike McDonough in an interview with The Dispatch.
The first building on the docket is Beacon Elementary School because the district can construct a new building while school is in session, McDonough said. A conditional use application for Beacon, as well as a more than 20,000 square foot preschool addition to Norwich Elementary School, are going before the Hilliard planning and zoning commission this week.
Plans for the other two new buildings at Brown and Ridgewood Elementary are more complicated: For example, the district has been working with Hilliard, Columbus and the Darby Accord process to enable the city to annex some land for Brown Elementary School.
The entire process will likely take at least five years, McDonough said.
Cost estimate, building timeline still to be determined
The district is contending with overall higher construction costs compared to a few years ago and unclear tariffs that could raise prices on materials. For example, Upper Arlington’s new high school that opened in 2019 would cost twice as much to build today, The Dispatch previously reported.
Hilliard school district has needed to make a few adjustments, such as slightly reducing building square footage, to reduce construction costs. Still, McDonough said the district has enough from the $142-million bond issue to make all of the pledged improvements, and the new buildings will be larger than the existing structures.
“(High construction costs) have caused us to make some tough decisions in the design process, but nothing that would sacrifice the impact it’s going to have on teaching and learning for elementary students,” McDonough said.
Redistricting on the horizon
It’s been nearly two decades since Hilliard City Schools last redrew school boundaries, but changes will need to happen sometime within the next few years to balance enrollment throughout the district, especially at elementary schools.
During the public input process for the district’s master plan, McDonough said that people emphasized the value of neighborhood elementary schools.
Once the district has a timeline for renovating Brown Elementary School into an additional sixth-grade building — another feature favored from community input — redistricting will begin about a year before that and will be open to the public. McDonough said the district will likely hire a company to help facilitate the process.
“It will be a public committee just like our master facility plan was … We won’t be doing things behind closed doors,” McDonough said.
Playgrounds, security vestibules among work this summer
Work on some of the smaller projects is already underway.
Six playgrounds at elementary schools around the district — Avery, Britton, Norwich, Hilliard Crossing, JW Reason and Horizon — are getting an upgrade this summer.
The remaining playgrounds will be upgraded next summer.
The district is also adding security vestibules at schools that don’t already have them over the next few years, starting with six this year: The district’s three high schools, Tharp 6th Grade School, Heritage Middle School and Weaver Middle School.
Construction is also happening on a new weight room at Hilliard Darby High School, which was funded by the bond.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers the western suburbs for the Columbus Dispatch. She can be reached at awinfrey@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: When is Hilliard building new elementary schools? What to know about $142 million plan
Reporting by Anna Lynn Winfrey, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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