Facilities Master Planning
Your Voice Matters!
Facilities Master Planning Phase Two
Beginning in the fall of 2015, the Upper Arlington community came together to craft a long-term facilities master plan for the district’s aging schools. Thousands of residents, students and staff members shared their thoughts on the best path forward. This community-driven effort ultimately resulted in a new Upper Arlington High School and five new or renovated elementary schools — as well as a decision to delay needed work on Hastings and Jones middle schools and Burbank Early Childhood school until a phase two.
Now, nearly 10 years after the community embarked on a facilities master planning process for Upper Arlington’s schools, it’s time to come together again — to determine the best path forward for the district’s aging middle schools and Burbank Early Childhood School.
In the fall of 2024, Upper Arlington Schools kicked off phase two of facilities master planning. So far in the first part of the process, the Assessments Phase, the district has:
- Formed building teams of approximately 100 community and staff volunteers to dive deeply into the physical and educational challenges of each building and explore possible solutions.
- Invited the community to learn more and share their thoughts through two rounds of community engagement sessions in the final months of 2024.
- Commissioned a new round of professional facilities assessments, updating the work done in 2015, to inform cost estimates for maintaining and repairing the buildings, as well as the development of additional options that would tackle both the physical and educational needs of the buildings.
Based on the results of the physical assessments, the estimated cost to simply maintain and repair the three buildings is $103.7 million. High demand in the central Ohio market has led to an escalation in construction costs since phase one. Several large-scale projects such as Intel, Google and Honda are contributing to shortages for labor and supplies.
What's Next
During the Options Phase, the community and staff volunteers on the building teams will be diving deeply into the physical and educational challenges of each building. They will be working together to develop possible solutions that will be brought forward to the community. The options will range from only repairing and maintaining the buildings to renovating or rebuilding the schools to address both the physical and educational facility needs.
The initial draft planning options for all three buildings will be shared with the community for feedback on February 18 and 19 at Community Engagement Session #3 and through an online survey available on the website following the meetings. The building teams will then take time to review all of the feedback and refine the options for additional feedback from the community later in the spring.
Your voice matters even more in phase two! The district’s goal is to create a transparent process where all voices are heard and to work together as a community to explore options for these schools and identify a fiscally responsible and forward-thinking plan that meets the needs of the students of Upper Arlington Schools and the community. We encourage you to get involved!
How to Get Involved
Now is the perfect time to become part of the master planning process! This winter, you can see the current state of our aging middle schools and Burbank Early Childhood School firsthand, explore the possibilities of future-ready learning environments, and consider draft options developed by the community and staff volunteers on the building teams. Your voice matters even more as we move forward!
Building Tours: January 16 and 29
- 6 p.m. at Burbank Early Childhood School, 4770 Burbank Drive
- 7 p.m. at Hastings Middle School, 1850 Hastings Lane, and Jones Middle School, 2100 Arlington Avenue
Learning Environments Summit
Open to all building team members and the community
- January 22 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the north learning commons at Upper Arlington High School, 1625 Zollinger Road
Community Engagement Session #3: Draft Planning Options
- February 18 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m in the Upper Arlington High School Amelita Mirolo Black Box Theatre, 1625 Zollinger Road
- February 19 from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m at the Graf Center, 2020 Builders Place
Upper Arlington Schools is committed to transparency throughout this process. You can access meeting information, including presentations and feedback, from past community engagement sessions and building team meetings at the following links.