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Buckeye Local Hoping For Building Repairs by Springtime

By SHELLEY HANSON For The Intelligencer 2 min read
Photo Provided Buckeye South Elementary teacher Gianna Ellis instructs kindergarten students last fall in one of two social halls at St. Joseph Catholic Church following flooding at Buckeye South Elementary in Tiltonsville. Students from pre-kindergarten to fifth grade use former classrooms and two larger spaces at the former St. Joseph School, while sixth-graders study at Buckeye Local Junior High.

TILTONSVILLE -- The Buckeye Local School District will soon begin accepting bids for an estimated $600,000 project to fix water damage caused by flooding at Buckeye South Elementary last fall.

Superintendent Kim Leonard on Thursday said the project's architect, Rob Renzi, is expected to provide final plans to the district by the end of this month. The district hopes to begin accepting bids April 6 and close the bidding by April 27.

If all goes as planned, work will start by May 18 and be completed July 17 with enough time to get the newly repaired classrooms prepared for students for the 2021-22 school year.

Since there was so much damage, the district had to scramble to find an alternate location for the students to learn this year.

Sixth-graders were transferred to a junior high building, while the pre-kindergarten to fifth grade students began classes at nearby St. Joseph Catholic Church.

"It's a tight squeeze, but Father Cross has been wonderful to work with. We appreciate everything he has done, and the Diocese of Steubenville, to find us a home," Leonard said.

Leonard said it has been a difficult school year, but everyone has been working together to make it work.

"The community really helped us and welcomed us with open arms," she noted. "At least the church was literally a couple blocks away from the school. ... If we had to bus students to other elementary schools in the district it would have been difficult with COVID. We need to try to keep class sizes smaller."

Leonard said every classroom on the first and second floors is damaged. Some rooms need everything fixed-- ceilings, walls, floors, electrical -- while others just need floor work.

While the church already had some classroom space, it did not have a playground. The students are using the Tiltonsville Volunteer Fire Department's parking lot as a "makeshift playground," she added.

Regarding the cause of the flooding and damage, Leonard said she could not comment.

"That's in litigation. I can't talk about that right now," she said.

Last fall, officials believed the flooding was caused by a possible clog in a drainpipe that may have caused water to back up into the school.

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