Trending
VIENNA -- With the closing of Currie Elementary School in Fowler and recent building additions as well as other work at Baker Elementary School in Vienna to house more students, a new name has been selected for the school.
Mathews School District Superintendent Russell McQuaide said Baker Elementary School will now be known as Mathews Elementary School. It will house grades kindergarten to fifth.
"With one school closed and another with new additions, we decided to change the name to Mathews Elementary School to note the changes," he said.
Grades sixth to 12th are at Mathews High School.
McQuaide said with the decision to close Currie Elementary, which houses kindergarten through second grade, there were needed additions and expansions at the elementary school. Those have been completed.
He said the $2.3-million new wing addition of the elementary school is ready for the first day of school Tuesday.
During the summer, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the elementary school were replaced at a cost of $359,000. The project was covered by Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds, which are federal dollars to help schools deal with the pandemic.
Work is also being planned for a new playground at the elementary school since with the additions to the building took much of the former playground area.
The Herd Foundation, a nonprofit group that supports the school district, is planning fundraisers and seeking donations for the playground.
Terry Woodyard with the foundation said in addition to a new playground for the elementary school, there are plans for a brick walkway by the playground.
The board received more than $12,000 in donations at the Aug. 21 meeting for the playground.
McQuaide said a storm sewer project to connect the elementary school property to the Sheridan Road sewer system costs $770,00, with Trumbull County commissioners providing $430,000 in grant funding toward part of the project cost.
Work also has been done at the high school with HVAC updated in the high school gymnasium as well as new bleachers in the gym,
There is also a new band shelter at Booster Field.
In other business at the meeting, the board announced it is negotiating with the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office on the cost for two school resource officers for the district -- one at the high school and one at the elementary school. The district previously had SROs from the Vienna Police Department.