4/1/2011 3:45:00 PMRelocation costs for John Marshall High School students in Cleveland expected to cost more

April 01, 2011, 2:33 PM

By Ken Prendergast, Sun News 

CLEVELAND  -- Between the state budget cuts and $74 million in newly announced school district cuts, this was no time for bids to come in high for relocating students during the replacement of John Marshall High School. Funding remains intact for demolishing the old high school and replacing it with a new $52 million facility at the same location, 3952 W. 140th St. The funding for the schools comes from a pot of capital improvement money that is legally separate from operating funding that is proposed to be cut.

John Marshall and other new Cleveland schools are the result of the district’s $1 billion facilities improvement program that started in 2002. But, due to the budget cuts, there are no extra funds to pay for bids coming in too high for the cost of temporary, modular classrooms to be set up at Carl F. Shuler High School, 13501 Terminal Ave. That news was revealed at a public meeting held last week to update stakeholders on the project’s progress.

“Since the bids came in too high, they’re rethinking the move to Carl Shuler,” said Ward 18’s councilman Marty Sweeney. “A question was posed by teachers and staff at the meeting (last week): what should we do? They were told to ‘keep packing.’ People are putting more work on getting this moving forward in a timely manner, hopefully.”

More detail on traffic patterns also was needed, said Sweeney, whose ward includes John Marshall.

The news comes as the district considers closing seven unidentified schools; laying off 835 employees, including 650 teachers; and cutting $2.5 million from the central office budget through pay, benefit and staff reductions. The $74 million in cuts would be needed for the next two school years, 2011-2012 and 2012-2013.

Some of the school system’s buildings could be sold — among them the district’s historic headquarters, which is located next to the construction site for the new convention center and medical mart.

Peter Raskind, interim chief executive officer of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, said new revenue is needed. The district will debate whether to ask Cleveland voters to approve an operating levy later this year.

The proposed cuts, however, are designed to balance the budget without a levy since any additional tax approved will not be paid by voters until at least next year.

“There are no easy answers to the district’s budget woes,” Raskind said in a written statement. “We have only to look at the deficit conditions in Ohio, in states throughout the nation, and at the federal government to know we must make tough choices at the local level, if we are to overcome our current and future fiscal challenges.”