MANSFIELD — Supt. Stan Jefferson wants to see Mansfield City Schools grow.
At a Tuesday night meeting, Jefferson told school board members the next step in that journey is a new building. The proposed facility would house preschool through 3rd grade students.
“As we sit here today, we know that we are going to build a new facility in Mansfield,” he said.
Board president Chris Elswick said the district’s facilities committee has been in talks with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) for about a year to explore its options. The OFCC has verbally committed to cover 95 percent of the project costs for a new building.
“As of right now, this is the direction we’re headed. If everything works out with the state, that’s what we’re going to do,” said Elswick, who is a member of the facilities committee.
“It has to be done. We need new facilities for the kids, to give them a chance to compete.”
Director of Facilities Robert Booth said the district hopes to fund the remaining five percent of the project without going on the ballot.
“We’re trying everything not to have a bond issue,” Booth said. “We’re looking at all avenues.”
Elswick confirmed the district plans to build the new facility without a bond issue, but said a new operating levy may be necessary to maintain it.
If all goes according to plan, the district will break ground on a new facility in 2025 and complete it in 2027.
“Like everything else, at the end of the day it’s about kids,” he said. “They need to have the same opportunities everybody else has.”
New building would allow expansion of preschool program
Jefferson said the proposed building would have the capacity to house up to 900 students, including up to 400 preschoolers. The superintendent said he hopes to turn the tide on the district’s declining enrollment by expanding its preschool program, which is free to attend.
There were 163 preschool students enrolled in the district during the 2022-2023 school year, according to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
“We have a waiting list for Pre-K, we have no place to put them right now,” said Linda Golden, school board vice president. “We want to have the best Pre-K program in the county.”
Jefferson said the details of the proposed project, including the total cost and where it will be built, are still being finalized with the OFCC.
“We have the opportunity to grow. We don’t know the shape or the size as of yet,” he said. “Obviously, we have a lot of property within the city.”
“We hope to have everything signed, sealed, delivered by May so we can then actually give you those numbers,” he added.
District leaders said the restructuring won’t mean the closure of magnet schools like Mansfield Spanish Immersion and Springmill STEM Elementary.
Jefferson also said the district will maintain campuses across town.
“We want to give our families choices,” he said. “No matter where you live, you will be able to send your child to a school in your area.”
District facility plans also include middle, high school renovations
Creating new 21st century learning facilities is a goal of the district’s most recent five-year strategic plan released in 2022. But that means more than just a new building.
Jefferson also told school board members the district needs renovations at the middle and high school building.
“We need a total educational restructuring of the district. That means we need to take a look at 124 N. Linden Road,” he said. “We want that campus to be back to what the school was really built for, which is career academies.”
The middle and high school building is the district’s newest facility. Construction began in 2001 and was completed in 2004.
Jefferson also said later phases of the district’s master facilities plan will include abandoning some older buildings and eventually building another new facility.
According to Jefferson, the current Hedges building was constructed in 1911. Woodland was erected in 1936. Prospect and Brinkerhoff went up in 1950. John Sherman Elementary and Springmill STEM Elementary were both built in 1961. The Malabar Intermediate building followed a year later.
Prospect closed permanently in 2022 and was demolished. The school board has voted to ‘abandon’ Brinkerhoff this year and relocate Mansfield Spanish Immersion to Woodland Elementary.
“We plan on building two in that long-term five to ten years,” Booth added. “We plan on having the first one built, that’s phase one. Phase two is realigning the district. Phase three is going back to the OFCC, trying to get 95 percent on another building and keep it going.”
Golden, who is also on the facilities committee, said OFCC officials have stated Mansfield City will be eligible for new facility funding again by the time the proposed PreK-3 building is complete.
