B A Y
V I L L A G E
C I T Y
S C H O O L
A Report to the Community on the Business of Our City Schools
D I S T R I C T
J A N U A R Y 2 0 24
The Quality Profile Issue
Developing a Facility Master Plan for Bay Village Schools: A Q & A with Supt. Scot Prebles Did you know the Glenview Center was built in 1947? Or that Bay Middle School will celebrate its 20th anniversary this month? Bay Village Schools is conducting a comprehensive facility review and audit of the district’s buildings as part of its Facility Master Plan, an objective in the district’s new strategic plan. We sat down with Supt. Scot Prebles to find out more about this process and what we as a community can expect to learn from the results. Q. We hear the district is conducting a facility audit. That sounds expensive; how much will the study cost the district? A. Great question, and the good news is the audit is free to the district! The plan for the audit was presented during the Monday, December 4, 2023, Board of Education Meeting. This free audit is paid for by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC), and will be conducted by a neutral party.
Q. Please remind me... When did all this facility audit conversation first start? A. Sure, no problem. The 14 community volunteers who served on the district’s Strategic Vision Advisory Committee (SVAC) felt the district’s nearly 500,000 square feet of learning community space was an important item to include in the strategic plan framework. As you know, we kicked off that community conversation in November of 2022 when we invited the community to the district’s Community Strategic Plan Focus Group event. Out of that meeting, the SVAC was developed and that team worked hard for the next three months to create the foundation. And one year later, the community met in that very same room to roll out the new strategic plan. Now Director of Human Resources and Operations Aaron Ereditario, alongside our district facilities and maintenance team, is working with the OFCC folks to gain knowledge of the quality of our structures and the shape they are in. Q. So what happens next? A. Mr. Ereditario and his team await the results of the OFCC audit, which is expected in March. In the meantime, the district is in the process of assembling a volunteer facility review team to review the anticipated audit results, and to then offer recommendations to the Bay Board of Education. If you have interest in serving on this team, I encourage you to reach out to Mr. Ereditario at 440-617-7398 or aaron.ereditario@bayk12.org.
Prior to this audit, no property assessments were available for each building’s electrical, plumbing or roof conditions. During the December 18 Board Meeting, architects were interviewed, and at the January 22 meeting, the Board intends to appoint an architect – again free of charge – to help guide the district should there be a future need to move forward with remodels or new construction. Q. Well that’s great news, but why does the district need all this information? A. The audit is part of the Accountability priority in the district’s new strategic plan. One of the objectives of the Accountability priority is to create a facility master plan. Before we can accomplish this, we need the review and audit information to learn what the experts think. Then we will go from there.
The next step will be to develop community consensus for the future facility master plan. That could include anything from doing nothing at all, light repairs and renovations to the buildings, extensive remodels and/or a new facility. We don’t know what we don’t know, because again, remember, we currently have no assessment of the buildings’ electrical, plumbing or roof condition before this free audit. I will say that at this time, there is no talk of a bond issue. We are in the audit stage to gain knowledge from the experts who will provide this information free of charge. If you have questions, I welcome your calls at 440-617-7300 or emails at scot.prebles@bayk12.org. Better yet, let’s talk in person at our next Coffee Chat, scheduled for Friday, January 19 from 7:30-8:30 a.m. at Mojo’s. FUTURE COFFEE CHATS: Wednesday, March 20 • 6-7 p.m. • Board of Education Office Friday, May 10 • 10-11 a.m. • Bay Provisions, 328 Bassett Rd.