PARMA, Ohio — Tensions rose inside the Parma City School District Saturday afternoon as members of the community, city leaders and school officials gathered to discuss the future of Parma Senior High amid plans to demolish the building and build a new, consolidated high school for the city. Those plans, however, are now back in discussions.
A meeting was held on Saturday after Seven Hills Mayor Anthony Biasiotta released information in an open letter earlier in the week about the possibility of up to $250 million in state funding that could be available from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission to renovate the 69-year-old building rather than demolish and rebuild it.
Biasiotta urged the school district to discuss their options with the public and make all of the information available for residents and parents to weigh in with their thoughts on the decision.
So on Saturday, supporters and adversaries of the current master plan to demolish had their voices heard, each given three minutes to share their thoughts on each possible plan.
"We should not knock one brick out of this building until we know that we can’t turn this into the one high school," a man in favor of pursuing renovation funds said.
"When are going to start doing what’s best for kids? Not political grandstanding. Not one high school, all of them," a woman in support of the demolition said.
Biasiotta alleges the school district has rushed this process after overlooking the potential for state renovation funding, and that idea has gained steam with many vocal supporters of the mayor at Saturday's meeting.
"If we’re going to really look at all the things, let’s call a representative in from OFCC, have them speak on the record. Have them be available for follow-up questions. Have a real appraisal done. And I have a million other things," Biasiotta said of his requests from the school board.
Parma City School District superintendent Charles Smialek admitted that the information for state funding was in an email the board received in 2018, but while showing the email on a projector to those at the meeting, explained that the information was deep in the information, making it easy to have been missed.
Smialek said that while it was overlooked then—only brought to his attention from the mayor's open letter—after looking over the information about the state funding and even re-reading the language in the initial email from years back, renovation funding doesn't seem like the most viable option.
"To renovate Parma City High and really fit enough students into this building as currently constructed versus just to build a new school, very minimal difference in terms of dollars and cents," Smialek said. "Honestly, I still think that demolition is the best option right now. I think when we look at what the dollar and cents would actually mean and how we would actually come very close—minimal difference between the cost of renovate versus rebuild for Parma Senior High to be one high school—first you have to get the costs, then you would have to hope you could get a waiver, and then, quite frankly, you'd have to engage in the community again."
"We hadn't talked about that. That master plan would be new. We had not introduced to the community the element of paying approximately $4 million for a renovated Parma Senior High. So now you're talking about another year or so to try and make this decision, and it essentially paralyzes the district. We need to know what our path is; we need to know where students are and where teachers are. All of those things make a difference, and we would like to move forward," Smialek continued.
Parents like Melissa Wolfe agree with the school district and believe this push-back to the original plan to build a new school is motivated by political reasons.
"As a parent with two children in the district and a long-time supporter of our schools as a graduate of Valley Forge, I want what's best for our kids and the current conditions now, I feel like things are starting to get clouded by the political community," Wolfe said. "I wanted to make sure to show support for our school board and our superintendent, who I think are doing a fantastic job because, number one, they always put our kids first."
But others, like Pat Nemith, a 48-year resident of Parma, believes renovation would be detrimental for the community for years to come while construction took place—and hopes that there will be more exploration into renovation funding.
"They have the capability here where a lot of other schools are landlocked and can’t give us that. Renovation would be the key," she said. "If they tear this building down, at one of the board meetings, we were told they would not rebuild for five years. This is going to be a hole in the ground for that long...Now that this has come to light that there’s all these waivers and we can get renovation–which the common public wasn’t told about–I think this needs to be revisited."
While the board and its supporters fear that the pursuit of these renovation funds, which may or may not be viable for the district, will "paralyze" the district and put a halt to all progress when it comes to improving the schools in the district, Smialek said Saturday's meeting was an important act of democracy and—like people on both sides want—a chance for more transparency.
With the future of Parma Senior High in the balance—whether it be a renovation or a rebuild—these discussions had Saturday between the community and the school board are poised to be the first of many as the plan is now revisited and a decision now lingers.
"We heard from a lot of concerned residents really on both sides of the aisle. Folks that spoke out in favor of a renovation. Folks that spoke out and said they're in favor of demolition, and so our board has a lot to weigh and a lot to continue to look at, and we want to make the best possible solution forward," Smialek said.
"I want what’s great for our people and our futures. And it all starts with the schools. If you don’t have good schools, you can’t have a great community, but I have a slightly different way of going about it," said Mayor Biasiotta.
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