More than 100 people turned out last week for a forum and Q&A session at Fairmont High School on the future of the district’s school buildings.
“This is truly a long-term vision,” said facility planning consultant Mike Ruetschle of Ruetschle Architects, who is a Fairmont graduate.
The projected master plan cost is $432.9 million, with $285.9 million to be funded locally and $146.9 million coming from the state through a partnership with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, which spent nearly two school years conducting a comprehensive study of every school building in the district.
As part of the proposal, the district would go from 12 buildings down to eight. The district now has one high school, two middle schools, eight elementary schools and an early childhood center.
“We’re planning to combine Van Buren Middle School and Kettering Middle School into one building,” Ruetschle said.
The ideal place for the new 223,000-square-foot middle school, which would have music spaces for band, orchestra and choir as well as a stage, is on the Fairmont campus facing Far Hills Avenue.
“This will be the downtown of your academic environment,” Ruetschle said.
The plan also calls for keeping the additions at Fairmont High School, such as Trent Arena, the Performing Arts Center and Career Tech facility, but razing the east, west and central academic wings, which Ruetschle said are “virtually unchanged” since the school was built in 1959. The new 160,000-square-foot academic core for Fairmont would be oriented east-west, allowing for more parking space, he said.
Credit: Jen Balduf
Credit: Jen Balduf
The reduction in school buildings to “right-size” the district’s footprint takes into account its slightly declining enrollment, according to district officials.
A five-year enrollment projection is 7,392 students for the 2028-29 academic year, compared to this year’s enrollment of 7,550. Also, the state prefers larger buildings of at least 700 students for greater efficiency because there would be fewer roofs and HVAC systems, as well as fewer kitchens and parking lots to clear, said Jeff Johnson, the district’s director of business services.
The state-level OFCC recommended replacement rather than renovation for almost every Kettering school building — the majority of which are 70 to 75 years old — because their projected renovation cost is two-thirds or more of the cost of new construction. Johnson said maintenance costs have ballooned with so many older buildings.
In fiscal year 2021, the district’s budget was more than $400,000 for building and grounds.
“We’re at almost $700,000 and that is just maintenance,” Johnson said for the current fiscal year.
The district’s newest building, Greenmont Elementary School, in a neighborhood south of Patterson Road and west of Culver Avenue, was built in 2005 and only needs some updates. Fairmont High School received a waiver from the state because only its core academic building needs to be replaced, Ruetschle said.
The priority of the first phase would be to build the new middle school, to demolish and build the academic core of the high school and to address necessary repairs to keep the remaining buildings warm, safe and dry until school buildings are renovated or constructed.
The $199.1 million price tag for the first phase would be covered 100% locally — meaning from the proceeds of a bond issue, if voters approved it. Once state reimbursements are paid, they would be applied to the second phase, which will cost a projected $86.8 million locally plus the state share of $146.9 million, said Ruetschle, who added that construction costs are in flux based on the economy and inflation.
Dividing the project into two segments would save an estimated $10 million by avoiding the use of mobile classrooms and trailers. Also, Ruetschle said it may attract better bids than doing the entire project at once.
First the middle school would be constructed. Once finished, high school students would temporarily use the new building during construction of the new high school academic core. During construction or renovation of the elementary schools, those students would use Kettering Middle School as a swing space.
Many community members in attendance were concerned about where the new elementary schools would go and whether the state money will be available 10 years from now.
Treasurer Justin Blevins responded to the state money question, saying, “There’s no guarantee. We have to act on what we know.”
Credit: Jen Balduf
Credit: Jen Balduf
At this point in the process, he said it’s unknown what the bond’s cost per household would be.
In 2016, Kettering voters passed a permanent levy that the Montgomery County Auditor’s Office said brings in about $4.28 million annually for permanent improvements — maintaining, repairing, or purchasing assets that have a lifespan of five years or more, such as buses, technology or facility repairs.
“These are ongoing costs every public school has and will continue to need to be addressed,” Blevins said.
Building new schools and completing renovations is expected to ease the maintenance costs and help the district extend its operating levy, Johnson said.
Assistant Superintendent Dan Von Handorf said it’s still five to six years out before the district will need to focus on the elementary schools, but that they would reach out to community members for their input.
“We need to be thoughtful and strategic about where those would be,” he said.
A second community forum will take place in the fall, and the school board plans to make its decision in January 2026 for a possible bond issue on the ballot in May 2026.
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