By Amantha Garpiel

For Miami Valley Today

TIPP CITY – The Tipp City Board of Education received updates on the new building project, reviewed the monthly financial report and approved new appropriations, authorized a fund transfer, approved a contract with Collaborative Learning Network LLC and approved the acceptance of conditional approval from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC).

To start their Oct. 15 meeting, the Tipp City Board of Education recognized the hard work of numerous students from Broadway Elementary, LT Ball Intermediate and Tippecanoe Middle Schools.

The board then heard from Superintendent Aaron Moran regarding updates on the new building project and other related facility matters.

To start, Moran shared the district has officially decided to use Garmann Miller as the architect for both the new kindergarten through eighth-grade building and the high school renovations.

Moran also shared they are close to choosing a company, through the OFCC’s process, for the construction manager’s position.

According to Moran, they hope to make a final decision at the end of October or in early November following site visits and question and answer sessions which will be followed by an interview process.

An owner representative has not been selected, but according to Moran, the district has narrowed the pool of potential representatives down to four candidates.

On a related facilities note, the district has officially closed Nevin Coppock Elementary School.

The decision to close the school came following rough storms exacerbating the existing problems with the roof, various leaks and potential asbestos.

The district plans to hold a ceremonial closing on Nov. 12 at 6 p.m. at Nevin Coppock Elementary School.

Next, the board reviewed the monthly financial report. According to Treasurer David Stevens, the report appears different from previous monthly financial reports due to the addition of bond funding from the bond sales. This funding puts the district’s cash balance at just below $100 million.

The board then approved additional appropriations for fiscal year (FY) 2025. The total increase in appropriations for FY 2025 is approximately $76,000 due to grant funding and donations.

As another step in the new building project, the board needed to approve the transfer of $48,274,254.61 from the Local Project LFIs (local funding initiatives) or the new building fund to the OFCC local project fund.

This step is mandatory and required by the OFCC to track the local portion of the OFCC project.

Another necessary step was taken by the board towards the new building project.

In order for the district to receive state funding from the OFCC, the board was required to accept the conditional approval of the OFCC.

Lastly, the board authorized a contract with Collaborative Learning Network LLC for additional support in the design process for the new kindergarten through eighth-grade building.

According to the proposal located in the board’s public content of the agenda, Collaborative Learning Network LLC’s proposal “focuses on supporting you, your educators, and the design team during the planning and design of the new K-8 school. Our work helps architects develop facility concepts that are 10-20% smaller than typical approaches to design while devoting a greater percentage of the facility to teaching and learning.”

The contract is not to exceed a cost of $17,400 and includes review of the district’s master plan and meetings with district leadership, development of an “educational specification program of requirements,” according to the proposal, based on the OFCC, Ohio School Design Manual (OSDM) and Tipp City Locally Funded Initiatives to establish the purpose of each learning environment and support for the design team working on the new building design that is focused on the conceptual design and schematic design phases.

In other business, the board voted:

• To dispose of surplus property including anything of value from Nevin Coppock Elementary that the district deemed no longer of use and 100 computer monitors from LT Ball Intermediate.

• To determine the transportation of a student to Miami Montessori School is impractical due to the costs associated and thus voted to offer payment-in-lieu of transportation to the parents.

The writer is a regular contributor to Miami Valley Today.