Board of Education Update — May 27, 2026 Special Meeting

The May 27, 2026, special meeting of the Board of Education focused on phase two of facilities master planning. You can view a video recording of the meeting here. To review the meeting presentation, please click here.

The following topics were discussed:

Master planning process overview

Superintendent Robert Hunt, Ph.D., reviewed phase one of the facilities master planning process more than a decade ago, which resulted in a new Upper Arlington High School and new and renovated elementary schools. At the time, the decision was made to delay any work at the middle schools and Burbank Early Childhood School based on a variety of factors, including cost, capacity and the fact that the physical needs of those buildings were 10 years out. Now 10 years later, there is no zero cost option — Dr. Hunt shared that there needs to be a significant investment in these schools to keep them operational.

Phase two of master planning began approximately two years ago, and the district was able to pull from work that was done in phase one to consider needs and options for the three remaining schools. New assessments of the physical and educational condition of the buildings were conducted in phase two. The physical needs fall under the repair options for the buildings, and the renovate and rebuild options were developed by volunteer building teams to address the needs in the physical facility assessments plus the needs identified in the educational adequacy assessments. Dr. Hunt shared that all ideas were considered and investigated, with over 20 options developed for the three buildings. 

Draft master plan recommendations

In February, Dr. Hunt and Treasurer/CFO Andrew Geistfeld made draft recommendations. These were informed by more than 5,000 touchpoints at that point in the process and the ideas shared by community experts on the Financial Advisory Board. 

The draft recommendations were as follows:

• Burbank - rebuild with additional classrooms
• Hastings - rebuild on athletic field
• Jones - rebuild entire building (no facade)
• Hastings and Jones athletic fields - turf

Dr. Hunt noted that the draft recommendation included the formation of a historical advisory board to consult on the design of a new Jones.

Geistfeld shared details about the calculation for the necessary bond millage to fund the draft recommendation. Since February, there have been two changes — an estimated increase of 0.25% in interest rates as of May 15, 2026, and an assumed average increase of approximately 7% in property valuation in UA as of the bond issue date (2027). The latter is a change from the previous assumption of a 10% increase in property valuation. Once these things are taken into consideration, he said the district would need to ask voters for an increase of 2.25 mills in the current bond tax rate to fund the draft recommendations as proposed in February. This would be combined with an operating levy of 4.9 mills. If approved, this would increase the property tax of a $500,000 home (as valued by the county auditor) by approximately $1,250.
 

Community engagement 

Dr. Hunt shared that, over the past three months, the district has gathered community feedback on the draft recommendations. There were five modes of collecting additional feedback:

• A community engagement session in March
• An online community survey in March and April
• Parent focus groups on swing space for Jones in April
• A scientific survey focused on Jones Middle School in May
• A community conversation about Jones in May

These five opportunities resulted in an additional 3,500 touchpoints — bringing the total touchpoints with stakeholders throughout the process to 8,500.

Several of these opportunities were developed to help provide more clarity around Jones Middle School. There was a wide array of thoughts and feedback collected — including concerns about losing a historical structure in Jones, a strong interest in preserving some element of that design and structure, and also a desire to create the long-term solution that meets the needs of students and provides equity between Hastings and Jones. 
 

Brief review: Burbank and Hastings options

Steve Turckes, a principal with Perkins + Will, the district’s partner in the master planning process, reviewed the recommended options for Burbank and Hastings. 

Burbank would be rebuilt, to the north of the existing building, with additional classrooms to help meet the increasing needs for special education at the preschool level and the demand for the preschool program in general. 

Hastings would also be rebuilt, to the west of the existing building on the athletic fields. 

Dr. Hunt shared that feedback indicated that there was a strong interest in addressing both the physical and the educational needs of these buildings, and the renovation options for each building had previously been eliminated by the Board of Education because they were higher in cost than the rebuild options.
 

Review: Jones options

Steve Turckes reviewed in more detail the work that was done to explore and develop options for Jones Middle School. He noted that the site is unlike Burbank and Hastings, in that there is not the space on the site to swap the building and the athletic complex. The educational assessments identified a number of issues, including undersized classrooms, spaces lacking daylight, and the shared gym/stage space. 

He also spoke to the historical significance of the building and its place on the Mallway Plaza. While the building is part of a district that is on the National Register of Historic Places, the building itself is not designated on the national register. 

He reviewed three options that were developed to address the physical and educational needs of Jones — a renovation (Renovate B) option, an option to rebuild the entire building, and an option to rebuild the building but retain the original three-story facade facing the Mallway Plaza. The renovate option would be a 2 year build, and both of the rebuild options would be 2½ year builds.

New Jones Middle School option

Steve Turckes then shared a new rebuild option (Rebuild Option B) that would retain the original three-story 1923 building, renovate the interior of that space and then rebuild around it. This option was developed based on the feedback from the community this spring. 

The cost of this option is approximately $135 million — comparable to the option to rebuild the entire building. This is a lower cost than the renovation option as well as the rebuild option that retained the three-story facade. 

He also shared draft design parameters for any new construction at Jones — which include respecting the historic character of the existing building, incorporating similar materials, being considerate of the detailing, and being thoughtful of the massing and scale in the neighborhood. The pricing for this option reflects the incorporation of similar materials and other design elements to honor the historic nature of the current building.

Dr. Hunt noted that, in the new rebuild option (Rebuild Option B), the 1923 building would be primarily utilized for spaces for adults — such as administration and counseling — while the new construction would house classrooms, performing arts and gymnasium space that would be utilized by students. The option would also be an increase in approximately 45,000 square feet, reflecting an increase based on typical classroom sizes for today. This option would also be a 2½ year build, like the other rebuild options that have been proposed.

Educational experience during construction

Dr. Hunt shared details about swing space options for construction at Jones. The Financial Advisory Board had previously recommended looking at all possible options for swing space during construction. 

As a result, Dr. Hunt recommends housing all 7th and 8th grade students from Jones at a new third floor addition at Upper Arlington High School that would be located above the Mincy Center (the district office) and the performing arts classrooms. When the high school was built, this area was identified as a potential space for an addition, if needed in the future. 

Dr. Hunt identified that the high school addition would provide a long-term asset for the district, rather than spending money on temporary modular classrooms for all grades from Jones. It would allow for the installation of synthetic turf at Jones as a first step in the construction process — which would create a middle school athletic complex to be used by Hastings and Jones students during construction.

The recommendation for sixth grade classes from Jones is to house them in modular classrooms at Tremont Elementary School, where the old senior center had been located, and to utilize spaces inside Tremont such as the cafeteria during that time.
 

Modified recommendations

Andrew Geistfeld shared the final recommendation to the Board of Education:

• Burbank - rebuild with additional classrooms
• Hastings - rebuild on athletic field
• Jones - renovate/rebuild (retain original 3-story building)
• Swing space - Jones 7th/8th to a new third floor space at UAHS; 6th in modulars at Tremont 
• Hastings and Jones athletic fields - turf

He recommends a $273.5 million bond issue to fund the projects, or an estimated 2.25 mill increase to the current bond tax rate (current bond tax rate 5.7 mills). The bond issue would be combined with an operating levy of 4.9 mills. If approved, this would increase the property tax of a $500,000 home (as valued by the county auditor) by approximately $1,250.

Next steps

Andrew Geistfeld shared that there are two resolutions that would need to be passed by early July in order to proceed with a November ballot issue. The first is a resolution of necessity for the operating levy and bond issue. That resolution serves as a request to the county auditor to do the calculations on the ballot millage. Then, that allows the Board of Education to take action on a second resolution to proceed with the ballot issue. 

The Board of Education is scheduled to meet twice in June — with the regular meeting on June 9 at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers, 3600 Tremont Road, and a special meeting on June 30 at 1 p.m. at the Bob Crane Community Center.