'There will be an end-of-life ceremony for Souers soon.' Canton adult ed moving to Timken

CANTON – Souers school once again is sitting empty and its future is grim.

The Canton City school board on Monday approved a resolution to move the district’s Adult Career & Technical Education Center and its Aspire Adult College & Career Readiness Center from Souers to the Timken Campus.

The move – the third in six years for the adult community program – will affect just over 100 adult learners when classes resume in August.

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Assistant Superintendent Jason Dixon said Souers at 2800 13th St. SW has deteriorated to the point that classes should no longer be held there. He cited a leaking roof as the primary issue.

The Aspire program, which offers classes to help residents earn their high school equivalency diploma as well as job skills help, will move to the third floor of the former Timken High School at 521 Tuscarawas St. W.

The adult community education programs, including classes for becoming a licensed practical nurse, medical assistant, medical insurance biller/coder and state tested nurse assistant, will move to the fifth floor of Timken where the district previously housed its high school-level career-technical programs. The high school-level programs have moved to the Technology Building on the Timken Campus.

An open house for the adult education programs in their new location will be held in September.

When asked about the future of the Souers’ building, Dixon said the district will not be investing any more money in the building, which opened in 1963.

“There will be an end-of-life ceremony for Souers soon,” he said.

Superintendent Jeff Talbert said plans for the property will be included in a strategic plan presentation he expects to give to the board this fall.

Souers closed once before

Canton school officials have been eyeing Souers for closure since 2005.

In 2005, then-Superintendent Dianne Talarico announced a plan to close Souers, which had been operating as a traditional middle school with roughly 600 students, to help the district meet the Ohio School Facilities Commission’s demand to scale back its Design for the Future construction and renovation project. Souers had been targeted because it was the last middle school on the construction list, Canton Repository archives show.

The district changed its plans and saved Souers following community backlash. Parents said they were concerned their children would need to be bused across town; southwest residents worried about the property values would plummet if the quadrant’s only middle school closed.

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The compromise meant that Souers would remain open as a middle school but the school would not be renovated with the others. The estimated cost to renovate and expand Souers had been $8.16 million, archives show.

The compromise was short-lived as district officials closed Souers as a school in 2008 as part of a downsizing plan due to strained finances and dwindling enrollment.

The building, which intermittently housed some alternative learning programs, sat largely empty until 2013 when district officials reopened it for its Early College Academy.

In 2018, Early College Academy moved to Crenshaw Middle School. The adult community programs, which had been operating in the former Fairmount Elementary building since 2015, moved to Souers.

Souers appeared to be spared when Talbert unveiled his Design for Excellence restructuring plan in 2021. Souers was the only building untouched by the restructuring, which called for the closing of another southwest school - Dueber Elementary.

Snap Gourmet Foods hired as new meal provider

In other business, the school board on Monday:

• Hired Snap Gourmet Foods to provide vended meals for the upcoming school year, under an urgent necessity measure. Dixon said the district’s previous vendor K-12 by Elinor no longer is providing vended meals, which are prepared meals that can be reheated and served to students. Dixon said Snap’s prices are comparable to the previous vendor.

• Hired Joseph A. Jeffries Co. of Nimishillen Township for $353,500 to construct a new asphalt parking lot with 81 spaces, curbs, sidewalks, storm sewers, lawn areas and lighting on the land formerly occupied by the former Timken Learning Center. Jeffries was the only company to bid on the project.

• Revised the 2022-23 school year calendar to include Juneteenth as a holiday on June 19. The change affects AIM Academy and year-round district employees.

• Accepted a donation of $500 and 100 shares of Hall of Fame Village stock from the Stark County Minority Business Association and its chief executive officer Leonard Stevens to be given to the 12 Crenshaw Middle School students who completed the association’s Young Entrepreneurs Program.

Reach Kelli at 330-580-8339 or kelli.weir@cantonrep.com.

On Twitter: @kweirREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Canton's Souers school no longer serving students, adult ed leaves