Superintendent outlines $147 million bond to replace aging Strongsville City elementary schools

The superintendent of Strongsville City Schools outlined a "Foundations for the Future" facilities plan and a proposed $147 million bond that will appear on the May 5 ballot, saying the measure would replace and renovate aging elementary buildings and reduce the district's reliance on 14 mobile classrooms.

The superintendent, who said he has led the district for 11 years, said the request was the product of a three-year planning process that included outside facility assessments and cost analyses. "Where students learn matters," he said, arguing that many elementary buildings built in the late 1950s and mid-1960s no longer meet contemporary safety, accessibility and instructional needs.

Under the proposal, the district would build three new elementary schools ' one in each quadrant of the city ' and make upgrades that include secure entryways, expanded media centers, collaborative hallways and performance stages. The district also described a new school behind the current SAR elementary site, a new school on the old Albian Middle School property, and a plan to vacate the Whitney property.

The plan would also reconfigure Kinser Elementary School, which the superintendent said would be renovated and organized into multiple buildings sized for roughly 700- and 500-student capacities, and renovate Morasi Elementary School to centralize preschool services that the district currently operates at Lunro Preschool by the high school and in several classrooms at Chapman Elementary.

The superintendent said the district currently serves about 2,300 elementary students and uses 14 mobile classrooms across the district. He said continued repairs would not eliminate long-term obligations and that replacing some buildings is more financially prudent when replacement cost exceeds an assessed threshold used by outside experts.

On financing, the superintendent said the bond ask is $147 million, down from an initial $159.1 million after the district allocated $10.5 million to the project to reduce the community's ask. He said bond proceeds would be used for construction, renovation, site work and infrastructure, not for salaries or operating expenses, and estimated the average Strongsville homeowner would pay about $1 per day.

If voters approve the bond on May 5, the district plans to begin design work in summer 2026 and construct the three new elementary schools simultaneously, with the goal that students would occupy the new K-5 buildings beginning in fall 2029.

As an example of classroom work the plan aims to support, the superintendent introduced a second-grade class podcast about the Underground Railroad developed under the district's CKLA (Core Knowledge Language Arts) curriculum, which he said encourages deeper learning and cross-grade content connections.

The superintendent closed by directing attendees to printed brochures and a QR code with detailed plan information and invited the public to speak with district staff wearing green shirts for questions and local engagement.