Westerville City School District proposes narrowing Longfellow renovations to free bond funds for HVAC work and finish at South High

District staff told the school board that they plan to scale back the planned Longfellow Elementary renovation and reallocate remaining bond funds and interest to pay for HVAC (HBAC) projects and additional work at Westerville South High School.

A district facilities staff member described Longfellow — "opened in 1931. It is a beautiful building," — and said the school now houses the district’s federally required "best of both worlds" program and related services rather than K–5 classrooms. Because the building’s day-to-day use is lighter, staff proposed removing some large elements from the original scope, including an elevator and broad student-furniture replacements, and narrowing the work to exterior brick repairs (chimney and facade), brick cleaning and sealing, targeted HVAC work, and asphalt and parking improvements.

Why it matters: staff said narrowing Longfellow’s scope would reduce the project budget significantly and allow the district to consolidate remaining bond funds and interest for higher-priority HBAC/HVAC projects across the district. "We're estimating... about $372,000 of work that needs to be completed there," the facilities…