Avon wrestles with "wants and needs" of school district as voters decide on bond issue

Michelle Lance, a kindergarten reading intervention teacher for Avon Schools, has been with the district for 29 years. Her daughter graduated from Avon High School in 2008. Her son graduated in 2012. Teaching in Avon's Early Learning Center, which previously served as the district's high school then middle school, Lance realized generations of her family had studied and worked in the same aging building. "Holy smokes, this building is old," Lance said. The Early Learning Center on Stoney Ridge Road was built in 1955 to serve as the district's high school, Superintendent Ben Hodge said. East Elementary School was built in 1961. Avon High School is entering its 26th year of use, with expansions in 2002 and 2022. The Avon school district is asking voters to support a bond issue (Issue 14) on November's ballot that would pay for a new elementary school on land bordering the Early Learning Center. The center itself would be demolished, replaced with a new athletic facility. The new elementary school would house students in third through fifth grade, with prekindergarten and kindergarten students moving to Avon Heritage South. The northern part of Avon Heritage would then serve students in first and second grade who are currently studying at East Elementary School, which would be closed and sold. Avon High School would get extensions to its locker rooms and weight room if the bond issue passes, as well as expansions to the district's bus garage. In total, Avon Schools is asking voters for a $90 million construction bond, which would cost the owner of a $100,000 house in Avon about $139 a year. The 37-year, 3.98-mill bond would raise about $4.5 million a year. The foundation of the bond issue is the district's plan to consolidate its buildings from six to four, Hodge said, for the simple reason that it's easier and cheaper to maintain fewer and newer buildings. Expansions to the district's athletic facilities, in the form of the expanded bus garage and locker rooms and weight rooms at the high school, are necessary as extracurricular involvement in the student body grows, Avon athletic director Erich Frombach said. That creates further demands for space, he said. "The volume of what these facilities were built for even 10 years ago isn't even to the volume today," Hodge said. "You can't do it all at once, and so we had the opportunity to go for bond money." Hodge also said the bond issue is a worthwhile investment for residents — if not passed now, the construction of new buildings will only get more expensive. And, Hodge said, the district needs updated facilities because of the cost it incurs to maintain aging buildings, a cost that would draw from the district's operating budget. Michelle Miceli, an Avon resident and member of Citizens For A Better Avon, a political action committee that has opposed Issue 14, said demolishing the school's existing buildings instead of renovating them was unnecessary. "Those buildings are perfectly fine," Miceli said. Teachers at the Early Learning Center and other Avon Schools buildings, though, said the age of the building means that it's time to move students into newer buildings. Neely Fisher-Powell, an Ashland University instructor who volunteers with Garden Clubs in Avon Schools, said her concerns with the aging buildings revolve around safety and "21st-century learning." "They've updated those spaces as much as possible," Fisher-Powell said. "Knowing what we know about how kids learn and the building itself, there's no way to really turn the building into (a modern, safe space). ... It could be better." Lance agreed. Teachers at the Early Learning Center have had conversations about the need for updated teaching spaces, she said, and are excited to move into the current Avon Heritage Elementary building. "Everybody thinks it will be nice to have a newer classroom," Lance said. "We really do have the best preschool and kindergarten staff around, and I just think it will be so nice for our kids to be taught in a school that's state of the art." One of the sticking points for members in the community, Hodge said, has been the athletic facility. In community meetings designed for public input on the bond issue and the district's overarching plan, residents expressed concerns that the athletic facility isn't a "need" for the community. Hodge said a field house adjoining the stadium, which lies behind the Early Learning Center, has been a part of the district's strategic plan — formerly referred to as its continuous improvement plan — since as early as 2016. In the past year, as conversations in Avon's Board of Education meetings have included the athletic center, Hodge said he received little, if any, negative feedback. Miceli said opponents of the bond issue feel the athletic facility is an unnecessary expenditure of taxpayer funds. Miceli also said she and other opponents of the bond issue felt ambushed by the number of teachers in attendance at a community input meeting on Tuesday evening. Hodge eventually ended the meeting after exchanges between residents in opposition to the issue and district employees became heated. But Fisher-Powell said the district invited teachers to the meeting to be able to address questions from the community. "It's not about us against them, because it's about kids and always has been," Fisher-Powell said. Miceli said residents opposing the bond also take issue with the district's timeline. Hodge said Avon Schools purchased land adjacent to the Early Learning Center this summer to be used for the new elementary school. Miceli said the district should have waited to get approval from voters. "The school has been moving forward with this project, and it hasn't even been approved yet," Miceli said. In board meetings, Hodge and the board previously outlined plans for senior citizens to use the athletic facility. On Wednesday, Hodge told the Chronicle-Telegram that conversations between the district and the city about collaborating on that aspect of the facility had stopped, but said that doesn't mean an agreement won't be reached in the future. "The mayor and I have a great relationship," Hodge said. "If there's an opportunity to do something in the next few years with our school facilities and involve seniors, we will figure it out." Fisher-Powell said she supports the bond issue because of the benefits it could bring to Avon students — the new buildings and athletic facility will ultimately benefit the district in the long run, she said. "I think it's OK for people to ask questions and say, 'maybe this is somewhat of a want,'" Fisher-Powell said. "But why not? Because our kids are worth it." Contact Richard Perrins at (440) 687-5172 or email rperrins@chroniclet.com.