The Athens City School District Board of Education will no longer consider a single campus solution after a unanimous vote at its Wednesday night meeting.
A presentation from Tony Schorr of Schorr Associates Inc. at the previous board meeting on the eight acres offered on The Ridges by Ohio University for a single campus would not be sufficient. That seemed to be a major motivator for the board's decision introduce a motion to no longer consider a single campus.
“Due to the information we received and the lack of land the single campus option is no longer viable for Athens City School District,” Kim Goldsberry, board member, said when clarifying the motion for the board.
The board asked the university if they could give the district more acreage — 20 acres was the preferred size — but Athens Superintendent Tom Gibbs reported back that the university would not give the district more acreage.
In a previous Post report, Gibbs said the board would have to consider "plan B" if OU did not give the district 20 acres, and "plan B" seemed to be what the board called "option four" based on discussions at its meeting. The board came to a consensus to go with "option four," or to build three new grade-level buildings. However, the board wanted to work out details such as if the preschool would be included in those buildings or if it would be a separate entity as it is now.
The next step will be for the board to hold a meeting to discuss the details of "option four" and possibly vote on it.
Clarification: The article has been updated to clarify Tom Gibbs' title.
