FCS board votes to close Lincoln, repurpose Jacobs

The Findlay City Schools Board of Education voted 5-0 during regular session Monday to close Lincoln Elementary and repurpose Jacobs Primary schools at the end of this school year. The board also unanimously voted to return the district to a full-time, five-day schedule, as coronavirus cases continue to trend downward locally. Preschool children who now attend school at Washington School, 1100 Broad Ave., will be transferred to the Jacobs building, 600 Jacobs Ave. District administrative offices, now housed in leased offices at 2019 Broad Ave., will eventually be moved to Washington School. The school has housed administrative offices in the past. The 106-year-old Lincoln Elementary building, located at 200 W. Lincoln St., will be closed. Elementary students will be divided into three buildings for students in kindergarten through second grade, and three buildings for students in grades three to five. The district's elementary schools are currently divided into four primary schools (kindergarten through second grade), three intermediate schools (third through fifth grade), and one K-5 building, which is Lincoln Elementary School. The reorganization of students is based on previous recommendation by the administration. Superintendent Troy Roth said the district will release information on the reorganization by March 1. Board member Susan Russel said it's not a decision the board is happy about making, but with the repeated failure of district levy requests in 2020, the decision had to be made. She said the decision will improve district finances, and move the city schools in a positive direction. The reorganization is expected to save the district between $1.3 million to $1.7 million annually. It will also allow the district to better balance the number of children living at or near the poverty level, keeping the number at less than 50% in each building. After Monday's board vote, the district will return to a full-time, five-day schedule for the first full week of the fourth grading period, on March 29. Findlay City Schools are now operating on a four-day hybrid model, with students in kindergarten through grade 12 attending school four days each week, with a remote day on Wednesday. Assistant Superintendent Krista Crates-Miller said the district's COVID-19 numbers, including positive cases and quarantines, are following the local trend downward. As of late Monday, the district's COVID-19 dashboard, which is updated daily, showed three positive student cases of the disease and 25 students in quarantine. The dashboard showed two positive staff cases, and one employee in quarantine. Roth said the district will continue to monitor numbers over the next month. Should cases begin to spike, he said the decision may be reconsidered. The board also voted Monday to purchase two modular classrooms for $3.25 million from Mobilease Modular Space Inc., Pedricktown, New Jersey, to accommodate the organization of students. The modular classrooms will be placed at Bigelow Hill Intermediate School, 300 Hillcrest Ave., and Wilson Vance Intermediate School, 610 Bristol Drive. Grant: 419-427-8412 EDITOR'S NOTE: The date that Findlay City Schools will return to in-person schooling was previously misreported. An earlier version of this story reported the return date as March 25, the start of the fourth grading period. The correct return date is March 29, the first full week of the fourth grading period.