Cloverleaf Schools shift plans toward 6-12 building, stadium work underway

WESTFIELD TWP. — Plans to build a new Cloverleaf High School have been expanded to eventually house grades six through 12 in one building. Early estimates on construction costs for a new high school at 8525 Friendsville Road come in around $40 million with public talks from officials committing to no new levy or bond issue to pay for it. Instead, expected proceeds from the NEXUS Pipeline project are the planned avenue for coverage. Plans for a combined Cloverleaf middle and high school have been approved by the board of education following community engagement meetings where 96 percent of those surveyed expressed desire for the larger school. Although formal groundbreaking or construction timelines have yet to be determined, Superintendent Daryl Kubilus said officials would like to see grades nine through 12 welcomed to a new building in fall 2023. Sixth through eighth grade would then move in once additions are made to the facility. "Adding the six to eight portion at the high school has proven to be extremely popular among our community," he said. "We'd like to look at this as a five-year project, to get all kids six to 12 into the new building, but that is just a goal at this point. Looking at September of 2023 for the high school is also an early goal." Cloverleaf Middle School, 7500 Buffham Road, is slated to relocate to the current Cloverleaf High School once the students have moved while additions are made to the new facility. Kubilus said the current middle school will be demolished immediately after it's no longer in use with the same fate planned for the high school once the new facility is ready for all intended grades. Funding from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission for a combined middle and high school building will be available to Cloverleaf once the district finishes building the high school portion, Kubilus said. He added that it's still too early to place an estimated cost on the final all-encompassing facility. "This OFCC funding source for six through 12 can't be utilized until the nine to 12 building is completed," he said. "The middle schoolers will go to the (current) high school for a number of years while the new parts are being added on. We're working on our master plan to determine every aspect to be included in the new campus environment. The entire time frame will be determined by OFCC's release of the funds they will owe us." Among residents who've expressed concerns with having six through 12 under one roof, Kubilus said most have focused on students most separated in age potentially sharing too many common areas. "Our architects have listened to what's been said at our community meetings," he said. "The answer is, architecturally, these students in sixth and 12th grade are going to be separated. Our design team has visited other buildings in other communities to see buildings with similar populations." "It's understood that our goal in this project is not to have a six through 12 school," Kubilus added. "The goal is to have a middle school portion and a nine through 12 portion with certain common areas such as the auditorium and certain music areas." NEXUS Pipeline owners are attempting to lower the project's tax valuation from $127 million to $44 million, the latest of multiple tries to appeal payout and cut into what was originally promised to local municipalities and school districts. Kubilus said payouts amounting to 38 percent of original expectations have already been secured by the district. On Tuesday, he maintained that even under a worst-case scenario where proceeds to Cloverleaf never go beyond 38 percent, the district will build a new high school and an eventual building expansion for grades six through 12 without asking voters to pass a levy. "Even if NEXUS were to win all appeals we will still be able to finance this project with the proceeds we have," Kubilus said. "That's covering the new six to 12 building." Medina County entities were originally promised a total of $16.6 million in NEXUS revenue with Cloverleaf set to receive about $7.44 million the first year. Buckeye Schools, Wadsworth Schools and Medina Schools would have received $2,162,000, $1,524,000 and $1,151,000, respectively. All four Medina County school districts set to be affected by a drop in NEXUS valuation — Cloverleaf, Medina, Wadsworth and Buckeye — have joined the Ohio Schools Pipeline Coalition, an opposition effort that began in Oak Harbor that has garnered support from 39 Ohio school districts. NEXUS proceeds are also being put toward roughly $3.2 million in improvements to Cloverleaf High School's Gene Clark Stadium that are now underway and scheduled for fall completion. Those changes include replacement of football field turf, adding two running lanes to the stadium track and new lighting that is slated to be ready to go for the start of football season. Further upgrades to the stadium entrance, fencing and concession area are set to be finished in October. "We are on track and everything is moving along well," Kubilus said. "The concession stand was just demolished today and footers have been laid for some of the new construction. We look forward to showing the finished product to our families." Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.