To the editor:

I am writing this letter as president of Salem Preservation. The members of Salem Preservation stand tall and proud in their conviction that all Salem residents, young and old alike, would be best served by maintaining, adapting and reusing or selling our current school buildings.

Preservation would be remiss if it did not address the very real issue of reusing and adapting sturdy, substantial and long-lived public school buildings. Members of Salem Preservation have expressed grave concern about the proposed destruction of all existing Salem City School buildings. I am a lifelong Salem resident and taxpayer, and I care deeply about the quality of education that our children receive.

Do you know? Are you aware that the Salem City Schools Superintendent and Board of Education have reached a formal written agreement with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission to take the “wrecking ball” to the Salem Junior/Senior High School on East Sixth Street? Is this a surprise to you? It certainly caught me off guard. The destruction of the JR/SR High School along with Southeast, Buckeye and Reilly Schools has been in the planning stages for a very long time. The City of Salem School Board of Education and administration proudly announced the destruction of the three elementary buildings to the public many months ago.

One of these perfectly adaptable/reusable school buildings is being flattened simply for additional parking spaces. The destruction of the high school was not even mentioned to Salem citizens or even friends of the Salem School Levy committee until 44 days before the general election. Why was this fact kept quiet for so long? It is a mystery. It has not been mentioned to many of us that the Junior/Senior High School is also part of the grandmaster plan. Until September 26th, you have not read a single word about the agreed upon demolition of the Jr. /Sr. High in our local papers.

Are there other surprising unannounced facts that may come out as we get even closer to the election? It is up to us, all the residents of the Salem City School district, young and old alike to be aware, ask questions, do your “homework,” ferret out all the facts. Salem Preservation believes that there are other options that should be considered before moving ahead. We (Salem residents) are the ones who will make the final decision.

Some people have been given the impression that the “State” has said that all the Salem schools must be demolished to receive the State’s portion of $57,397,466.00 to build a brand spanking new giant mega-campus school building. This is not what the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission Public Information Office said in a letter to Salem Preservation.

In the letter dated August 23, 2023 the OFCC, Public Information Officer Alexis Lewis stated: “No, the District is not required to demolish the schools. They may sell them or keep them for non-K-12 educational uses. Although the current MasterPlan/ELPP Agreement shows them as Abate/Demolish, if the district does decide to sell or re-purpose, we can amend the Agreement accordingly.”…

Has our Superintendent of Schools or the Salem Board of Education made any movement to amend or modify the Abate/Demolish agreement they have agreed to and signed with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission? NOT AS OF 10/20/2023! It would take just a little effort to send out a few RFP’s or feelers to specialists in this field. I say let’s get to work so we can amend the agreement and not destroy “our schools.” As you will plainly see. there are many options for the Salem Board of Education and its administrators to explore. I for one, am amazed that they would simply allow these well-built sturdy schools that former Salem Boards of Education have faithfully maintained to Ohio State building standards for many years, just to be destroyed without searching out alternatives to save and reuse them. As Ms. Lewis stated in her comment, they could be “repurposed” as McKinley School was for administration offices that were once housed in the “old” high school on North Lincoln. They could possibly “sell” a school building as they did with the “old” high school which has become Kent State City Center Campus on N. Lincoln. (I applaud those forward thinking former boardmembers for looking beyond demolition.) Has the administration or board reached out tothe private sector to reuse or adapt these buildings that could have an “after school” life of another fifty years? Have they sent out RFPs — Requests for Proposals to developers who specialize in adaptive reuse of older public buildings? There are special developers and architects right in our backyard who make their living through “saving” classic older buildings through redevelopment. Have our school officials reached out to these professionals to get their input on reusing or selling our school buildings? These developers and architects are not “mind readers.” Nor can they smell the fact that good reusable buildings are about to be destroyed. The Salem Board of Education must be proactive. They certainly have resources available to them at the State Board of Education and the OFCC. There are also building associations all across the United States who can refer developers to our Salem City School Board members. Salem Preservation is not asking the board members or superintendent to sit down and physically write these Requests for Proposals. There are specialists just for this task. These RFP writers will bring Salem the best proposals to reuse, adapt or sell our Salem City Schools buildings.

Please allow me to make one thing perfectly clear:, Salem Preservation is totally in favor of new schools for all Salem students when it is necessary to replace dilapidated, poorly-maintained school buildings. The board and administration could make a few bucks by selling these buildings. This would help defray costs of a giant mega campus. Southeast School for example, could be reused as an excellent nursing home or business incubator, etc. Buckeye or Reilly could easily be adapted to Senior Citizen apartments. (I believe we might have a few seniors in Salem –LOL). I believe that we can find a way to rejuvenate and enhance our current school buildings and provide our students with a high-quality education without breaking the bank. I urge the school board to listen to the concerns of the community and to explore all of their options. When all is said and done, I am confident that the leaders of our fine school system will reach a decision that will serve our children for years to come.

Unfortunately, in our modern, high-tech society, not everyone gets a local newspaper. So, let’s do our “Quaker Kids” a big favor! Please share this letter with a friend or neighbor in person, via text or on your favorite social media platform. As mentioned in the opening of this letter, tell everyone to be aware, ask questions and please do your “homework.” Please go to the polls on Election Day and vote smart! Once we are armed with information, Salem Schools can move forward to the future by preserving the past. Thank you for your time and consideration. Yours for a better Salem!

David K. Schwartz.

President,

Salem Preservation