Property purchased between Oldman and Milltown roads part of master facilities plan
WOOSTER - The City Schools Board of Education approved at its Tuesday, March 22 meeting the purchase of 15.288 acres between Oldman and Milltown roads from Gerald and Julie Craycraft for $1.35 million.
As discussed at the March board work session, land available through the Noble Foundation and the Craycrafts to the north and northwest of Wooster High School represents a unique opportunity to purchase prime real estate needed for the development of the master facilities plan.
The district will put down $10,000 in earnest money and spend about $2,000 for an environmental study to do due diligence, including a title search, on the property.
Closing on the property is scheduled for June 3 or before.
Superintendent Gabe Tudor said he anticipates at least one of the proposed new buildings, and possibly two, will be built on land located to the north and northwest of the high school.
"We feel this is a very good, strategic move," Tudor said.
Treasurer Amy Welty explained, using a graphic, that the district's fiscal status is in an optimal financial position to make the purchase.
The purchase approved from the general fund was made only for land owned by the Craycrafts. The next step will be consideration of the Noble Foundation property.
The land purchase was strongly recommended by the master planning committee, whose full recommendation for the master plan will be presented to the board at its April meeting, Tudor said.
Wooster High School Interim Principal Eric Vizzo presents scheduling changes for 2022-23 school year
Eric Vizzo, interim principal of the high school, presented scheduling changes for the 2022-23 school year. No course changes are being made.
The new schedule keeps the same number of academic periods, but increases each of them by four minutes, from 46 to 50 minutes. It also reduces the lunch periods from four to three, and eliminates the academic assist period, which Vizzo said was found not to work well, in part because of insufficient time allotted.
"It was not really what we had hoped for it to be," Vizzo said, adding, double blocking for advanced placement science also will be eliminated.
"The new schedule is pretty traditional," he said.
School will begin each day at 8 a.m. instead of 8:05 a.m.
Reconfiguring the Commons to accommodate about 60 students more per lunch period also will involve considering the purchase of new movable units of chairs attached to tables. Vizzo said none of the dining area furniture has been changed since the high school was built. "They have lasted for 30 years."
Wooster Online Academy eliminated
The board voted to eliminate the Wooster Online Academy, initiated during the pandemic. The district will return solely to what it does best, which is traditional classroom learning, Tudor said. The Generals Academy, an opportunity school, will continue to operate for high school students. Should conditions change and online learning be necessitated once again, the district can reinstate the online academy, he said.
Martin Yoder was approved as assistant principal of Wooster High School, beginning Aug. 1 in a one-year contract compensated at $88,719 per year.
John Myers was approved as assistant athletic director and Gault Recreation Center manager in a two-year contract compensated at $75,000 per year. His actual contract begins on Aug. 1, but ahead of that date he will spend some time as an interim assistant athletic director and Gault manager and as a consultant.
The board approved increasing the Generals Club employee pay rate from $14.70 to $15.44 an hour, a 5% increase, effective March 23.
UP NEXT
Work session, April 18, 7 p.m., Wooster High School library, 515 Oldman Road
Regular session, April 26, high school large group instruction room, 7 p.m., 515 Oldman Road
This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Wooster City Schools buys 15.288 acres for $1.35M
