Monroe Elementary will get new roof
By Jane Beathard
Staff Writer
Monroe Elementary School will get a new roof by early fall, the Jonathan Alder Local Schools Board of Education learned Monday.
Superintendent Gary Chapman said the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC) recently declared the roof defective and agreed to pay 54 percent of replacement cost — estimated to be about $750,000. The school district will pick up the balance.
Chapman hopes the new roof made of flexible vinyl will be in place by the start of the 2012-13 school year.
Leaks and ice dams have plagued the current roof, following construction of the new building in 2003. OSFC picked up 54 percent of those construction costs.
Treasurer Janis Thom said the school district fought a long and “painful” battle to force equal cooperation from the OSFC in replacing the defective roof. To complicate matters further, the original contractor is now out of business.
With OSFC participating, the school district is no longer responsible for legal fees associated with recouping at least part of the roof replacement cost. That will fall to the office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Thom said.
Chapman also updated school board members on remodeling of Jonathan Alder Junior High School. The $2.6 million project is well underway and should be completed by the start of the school year.
Also on Monday, curriculum director Jamie Pund said 60 Alder elementary and junior high school teachers are participating in professional development classes this week.
Two trainers from Columbia University are conducting the classes. She noted they will support the district’s planned implementation of “writing workshop” next year.
“They are all experts within ‘common core,’” Pund said.
• In other meeting business, school board members approved school and lunch fees for the 2012-13 school year. Those fees remain the same as in 2011-12.
They also approved a contract with the Madison County-London City Health District for school nurse services during the upcoming academic year. That contract pays the health district $13.94 per enrolled student. The Alder district enrolled 2,297 students last year.
