KETTERING — 1,600 local middle schoolers will be in one school next fall.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, Kettering City School District officials said it’ll save money by demolishing Van Buren Middle School.
>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Local district to merge middle school students into 1 building next year
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News Center 7’s Taylor Roberston attended one of the district’s meetings Monday night. It was designed to answer the community’s questions about this project.
Students and staff showed up, eager to hear what the next school year will look like.
District leaders said each grade level will have their own building where students will spend 90% of their time during the day.
However, they will likely have a class or two in a different building.
“The buildings are separate, but they remain locked all day,” Kettering City School District Director of Business Jeff Johnson said.
Parents asked how the school would keep strangers out when students change classes, or what would happen if there was severe weather.
“We have multiple staff members at those doors when students go back and forth, and as all students are in those doors, lock again,” Johnson said.
“If there was a severe storm, we would probably just maintain location at that point and assess the situation,” Johnson added.
Some parents were worried that teachers could lose their jobs, or if Kettering Middle School would have enough room for all the students.
“I think it’s important for everyone to understand (that) all the teachers here are going to the new middle school, together with our students. So we actually anticipate the same, or a little bit of a decline in average class size,” Assistant principal Cam McCoy said.
Kettering City School District Superintendent Mindy Mcarty Stewart previously told News Center 7 that parents were emotional hearing about the merger, and our crews saw some of that frustration Monday night.
There is currently no timeframe for when the district will demolish Van Buren.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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