FREMONT, Ohio — It's a development three years in the making.
Residents in Fremont said "yes" to a large levy; out with the old and in with the new for the Fremont elementary school.
Construction is on the home stretch for not one, but four brand new elementary school buildings as part of a $114 million project through the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission.
As these new buildings are being finished, crews have started demolishing the old school buildings.
Once complete in time for this fall, Fremont City Schools will be condensing their elementary schools from seven buildings into 4.
"It's always more efficient to be a little bigger. But we also think that they're not so big that you're in a giant complex. We still have four neighborhood schools at each corner of the town. So, we like that part without it being too large." said Jon Detwiler, FCS superintendent
Vertical construction is also underway at the future new Ross Junior and Senior high school building.
Students will be able to attend classes in the current building for now, and are expected to transition into their new school building after Christmas break in January 2022.
Once completed, this entire project will have the entire school district in buildings that are no older than ten years old.
"Walking through the space now, even though it's just bricks and cement blocks, it's just amazing how much space there's going to be, how much more open. Very excited, especially now that we can see the new buildings in our elementary, as you transpose that into the high school, it's a very exciting time for us." said Detwiler.
Detwiler says they are currently working out the logistics for an open house and orientation in their new elementary school buildings that also align with coronavirus social distancing mandates.
All the while, the district has to play a continuing balancing act between planning for the move into these new buildings while also having multiple contingency plans for potential future coronavirus regulations.
"Flexibility. Even in our last board meeting we talked about flexibility being the key. We're going to have to be able to roll with whatever happens. And if there's a second outbreak in mid-September/October, we've got to have plans for maybe backing off and maybe have some at home learning in the middle of all of it," said Detwiler
Which is why Detwiler says though some plans are agreed upon, nothing is set in stone until state officials finalized health regulations to limit the continued spread of the coronavirus within school buildings.
But he also says since his staff was able to adapt within three days in March to go entirely online, he knows his staff is up for the challenge this fall as well.
"Just the amount of change here, you can imagine. Especially for our elementary going from seven buildings to four. We've changed boundary lines, we've changed staff, we've changed principals. And now we may not even have a normal day. So, the amount of change for our K-5 group is tremendous." said Dewiler
Fremont City Schools says they will release their full COVID-19 response plan for the 2020 school year once they receive the final requirements from the state.