Russellville Elementary School.
Eastern Local School District is excited to announce two upcoming projects in the district, Eastern Superintendent Jordan Michael announced last week. The most significant project will take place at Russellville Elementary School. There will also be a project taking place at Sardinia Elementary.”
“The Eastern Local School District is excited to share that these projects will be funded with federal grant dollars and no additional local tax dollars. The federal government has issued three rounds of relief funding to Ohio school districts in response to the coronavirus pandemic, which many school districts, including the ELSD, consider to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address the health and safety of district students. The most recent round—created by the American Rescue Plan and referred to as ARP ESSER—is the largest round so far and made $4.5 billion available to Ohio school districts,” said Michael.
The ELSD has selected DS2 architects for the project based on their statement of qualifications. Construction meetings will regularly take place to develop the scope of the project. The ELSD construction team consists of (2) ELSD Board of Education members, the ELSD administration (Superintendent/Treasurer/Principals/Technology director/facilities supervisor/ director of special programs), and the project architect (DS2).
ARP ESSER funds have provided school districts with a unique opportunity to address some of their existing facilities needs to enhance the health and safety of district students. The ELSD is excited to take advantage of the availability of federal grant dollars to fund these projects.
“We are excited first and foremost about adding space for mental health services and other health related services. Adding these new spaces will require a renovated front entrance to Russellville Elementary which will fortunately create a more secure front entrance to the school building, which is something we have had on our radar for quite some time. We are overjoyed to not only create space for necessary services for our students, but to create a safer environment for students and staff,” said Michael. “We really want to make sure our community members and taxpayers understand that these projects will be funded with federal grant dollars and no additional local tax dollars. The ELSD considers the availability of these federal grant dollars to potentially be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to address the health and safety of district students.”
