The Mount Vernon City school board voted to approve business-services items that included a resolution confirming participation in a newly delivered Ohio Facility Construction Commission master plan, staff said. Superintendent (name not specified in the transcript) told trustees the OFCC sent a 217-page master-plan packet earlier that morning and asked the district to return a signed resolution via DocuSign by Nov. 26 to hold its place in the funding queue.

The packet details a segmented project described by staff as building three new elementary schools (K–5) and renovating Mount Vernon High School (9–12) with career-technical space proposed off-site. Superintendent’s presentation cited a project total “about $107,000,000,” with a state share reported as about $38,000,000 and the local share presented in the packet as about $68 million (the transcript lists this as “68.08” without explicit units). The packet also showed an ELP credit that reduced the publicly reported project total to roughly $99,000,000. Superintendent warned the packet separately calls out roughly $18,000,000 in items (LFIs) that the OFCC would not co-fund and would be the district’s responsibility.

Why it matters: accepting the OFCC packet’s participation form does not obligate the district to complete every project, but staff said not returning confirmation by the requested date could risk the district losing the district’s current place in the OFCC funding schedule. The packet sets a tight calendar: staff said the OFCC will take the master plan to a Jan. 15 meeting for approval; if the district proceeds to seek local bond funding it must meet procedural steps (a January declaration and a Feb. 4 deadline to reach the ballot commission for a May ballot). Superintendent told the board they would have roughly a 16-month window to raise the local share if they move forward after OFCC approval.

Board members pressed staff for details. One trustee asked for line-item examples of the $18 million LFIs; the superintendent said the packet lists communications upgrades, fire suppression components and other structural items that the OFCC separates out as non–co-funded requirements. Another trustee asked how the ELP credit changed the project math; members debated whether the credit should show as a reduced local share or as a reduced total project figure. Superintendent said staff would share the full OFCC packet and highlighted where trustees could find the LFI list.

Votes at a glance: the board approved the business-services items (including the OFCC participation resolution) by roll call; trustees recorded all affirmative votes on the motion as presented. Earlier routine motions (approval of the October minutes; routine policy approvals; personnel recommendations) also passed by roll call during the meeting. The board accepted donations reported by fiscal services, including gifts listed in the agenda packet.

Next steps: staff will circulate the OFCC packet and the specific LFI pages for trustee review and will return the district’s signed resolution electronically by the requested Nov. 26 date. Superintendent said the district may stop the process later if trustees become uncomfortable, but not replying now could forfeit the district’s current place in the schedule.

Reporting notes: direct quotes and specific dollar lines above are taken from the board presentation; some transcript lines presented abbreviated numerals (for example, the packet’s local-share figure appears as “68.08” in the record). Where transcript phrasing was unclear, the article flags the numbers as presented by staff and notes the district will circulate the full OFCC packet for trustee review.