Athens City Council will discuss the effects of the proposed “mega school,” a consolidation of Athens’ four elementary schools, during Monday night’s meeting.
Consolidation would include multiple schools on a single campus, with the middle school left unaffected by the change, according to a previous Post report.
According to that same report, three out of the four elementary schools in Athens, plus Athens High School, are above the two-thirds threshold. That threshold states that if the renovation of a school would cost above two-thirds the cost of rebuilding the school, the state will only fund renovations if they completely rebuild the school.
Consolidation of the schools has been the subject of backlash in Athens. A petition against consolidation garnered 400 signatures, according to a previous Post report.
Despite backlash, the school board continues to consider consolidation as a contender for updating the schools.
“We're going to catch a lot of flak no matter what we do, but we are all working for the best of the kids,” Roger Brown, the president of the school board, said.
City council members will also continue discussion about the Richland Avenue pedestrian improvements project. Its discussion will be on authoring design•engineering of the project.
The project could cost more than $1 million with improvements to the sidewalk and lighting along with the pedestrian tunnel, according to a previous Post report. The project is in talks to make the area safer.
“That area is more than a little congested,” Councilman Jeff Risner, D-2nd Ward, said. “It’s just a mess. It’s a dangerous place, and it really needs fixed. There will be some costs, but running over students — that’s costly, too.”
The tunnel would allow pedestrians to “maintain the general direction” of the current path from West Green to the center of Ohio University's campus.
Along with the Richland Avenue project, council members will discuss the closing of Court Street for the Athens Trick-or-Treat event Oct. 30 at 6:30 p.m. That event will take place from Carpenter Street to Union Street, according to a previous Post report. Those roads will be cleared at 3 p.m. in preparation for participants.
