Keene has outlived its educational purpose
River View Local School District custodians have done an amazing job of maintaining the building over the years, but some issues, like the cracks in this wall at Keene Elementary School, just can’t be cleaned away. Josie Sellers | Beacon
KEENE – Generations of families have walked the halls of Keene Elementary School, but the 102 year old building has long outlived its educational purpose.
River View Local School District is working on a building project that will include constructing one new elementary school attached to the junior high and making renovations to the junior high and high school. The project will be partially funded by a bond issue that will be voted on by the community during a special election on Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Keene’s enrollment during the 2015-2016 school year was 265 students. Principal Beth Hamersley fully expects that number to increase for the next school year.
“We already have more kindergarteners coming than sixth graders leaving and we had to add a sixth grade class,” she said. “We are running out of space.”
Space, however, is only one issue. A classroom downstairs had its tile replaced due to water damage. During that process they discovered that the type of tile, which is also in the room next door, has asbestos.
“Removing that tile isn’t easy,” said River View Local School District Superintendent Dalton Summers. “You have to get people in here that know how to deal with the asbestos and that is very, very costly. We have done a great job of maintaining a 102 year old building but when things like these tiles get wet we just can’t pull them up and put new ones down. It’s not that simple. We fix what we can, but our buildings are old. Kids running through a 100 year old house can be rough on it. Imagine if you had 200 to 300 kids running through that house every year?”
A slide show shown during a public tour of the school showed pictures of the school’s attic, which former Keene Principal and current RV Junior High Principal Jerry Olinger said he didn’t enjoy visiting.
“In 12 years I was only up there three times and you don’t want to go in there,” he said.
The building is hard to keep heated efficiently and the boys and girls restrooms are on different floors. Plus there are two modulars used as classrooms out back and the students there must come inside to use the restroom.
“One good thing about out here (in the modulars) is that they have air conditioning,” Olinger said. “On a sweltering day it felt pretty good out there.”
The modulars date back to the early 90s though and are right near where all deliveries come in and out of the school and have no fire alarms. They also have some water damage.
Both Olinger and Hamersley noted that parking at the school is horrible, especially during special events and there is no easy way for someone who is handicap to navigate the school.
“We’ve had students on crutches that have had to scoot down the steps on their bottoms,” Hamersley said.
Another negative to the school is that the playground is across the street and the area around it is known to be used by deer hunters.
“One time during deer season when I was here a deer came out onto the playground that was chased out by hunters,” Olinger said. “I always walked around the tree line and if I saw any hunter orange we had recess inside.”
Hamersley noted that the classrooms are limited in their utilities capacities and two small rooms used for intervention cannot get Wi-Fi.
There also are safety concerns with the building. While there are cameras at the doors, anyone who is buzzed in does not walk immediately into the office.
“With the way the new schools are built you walk right into the office and are with us,” Olinger said.
Summers said the custodians have done an amazing job of maintaining the building over the years, but the building has issues that just can’t be cleaned away.
Editor’s note: This is the second part in a series of stories highlighting the school buildings in River View’s district.
A look at Keene
Year built: 1914
Additions: 1935 and 1953
Current enrollment: 265
River View Local School Building Project
Problem: The current buildings have served the district well for a century, but they have become too outdated, inefficient and expensive to operate.
Solution: Close all four existing elementary buildings and place them in one new building that will attach to the existing junior high school. The junior high school and high school also will be renovated to today’s codes and the Ohio School Facilities Commission standards. Nineteen percent of the project will be paid for by the Ohio School Facilities Commission and the rest will be funded through a bond issue that will be voted on during a special election on Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Cost of the solution: The state’s share is $9,020,226 and the local share is $43,456,780. The bond to be voted on is 5.20 mils. The cost to the owner of a home valued at $102,500 is: $186.57 annually; $15.55 monthly; $3.59 weekly; and $0.51 daily.
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