Dramatic changes are coming to the campuses of Cincinnati Public Schools, as the district moves through its fourth year of a massive, 10-year rebuilding plan.
The $1-billion Facilities Master Plan, initially approved in May 2002, replaces inadequate, deteriorating learning spaces with first-class school buildings. It also represents, so far, an investment of more than $130 million in the district's neighborhoods. At the end of the plan, every CPS student will be educated inside new or fully renovated buildings that are attractive, efficient and technology-ready for the 21st century.
Groundbreakings and grand openings are filling the calendar as numerous projects start up while newly finished buildings open to students. Demolitions also are happening on many sites as old buildings come down to make room for the new.
The first new school building, the new Rockdale Academy in Bond Hill, opened in January 2005 to students in preschool through eighth grade. As of December 2007, 17 construction projects had been completed:
The Facilities Master Plan was developed jointly by CPS and the Ohio School Facilities Commission (OSFC), the state agency directing a statewide campaign to upgrade all Ohio school buildings. The state is contributing about 23 percent of CPS' eligible cost. Much of the remaining cost is funded by a $480-million school-construction bond issue approved by voters in May 2003, plus money from other local and state sources.
A vital component of the Facilities Master Plan is the goal of building enough quality classrooms to serve all CPS students without creating costly extra space. The plan was designed as a flexible document in terms of the final building count, with enrollment projections playing a key role in determining the number of schools CPS will operate by the plan's finish.
It is CPS' goal while rebuilding and renovating its buildings to create schools that are Community Learning Centers, with the community invited to help design each facility to incorporate partnerships with numerous businesses, the arts community and social service agencies to provide services to students and adults during the school day and beyond.