Oct. 18 – A joint effort that could lead to the construction of a new school on highly sought-after Ohio 741 land in Springboro is entering a new phase.
The Springboro Board of Education will consider a business contract this week to assess its properties. The proposed deal with SHP Architecture will be presented Wednesday evening, according to the school district. That comes less than a week after the Springboro City Council approved bond financing to purchase about 60 acres at Easton Farm.
The development of the Easton site has been a hotly debated topic for years, with several proposals dating back to 2008.
City officials said their plans to buy much of the 103-acre site at 605 N. Main St. would give them control over its future.
Springboro officials have said that if the city buys the proposed land, about 20 acres of it could be involved in a land swap with the school board, which would consider building a school there.
“It will be a very long process,” Springboro Superintendent Carrie Hester said.
The funding the city approved last week is an important step in that process. City Manager Chris Pozzuto said Springboro hopes to close on the land by the end of the year, the same time frame the city would like to issue a one-year anticipation note, Chief Financial Officer Jonathan Hudson said.
“We’re going to do it for a year with the idea that later we’ll do a full, longer-term bond,” Hudson said.
What interest rate the note will have will not be known until it is issued, he added.
“When we sell the note, that’s where the market is that day,” similar to mortgage rates, Hudson said.
Hudson said Springboro has an AA1 bond rating, the second-highest rating, according to Moody’s.
The school district’s proposed agreement with SHP calls for the company to provide professional design services for the current facilities and properties by May 31, 2025.
According to the district, the deal would net SHP $35,000.
Springboro schools range in age from a 95-year-old middle school to elementary schools built this century, district officials said.
The Easton Farm site was the focus of a 2022 court settlement reached after disagreements between developers and the Springboro City Council. The deal allows for residential, retail and commercial development on the portion of land closer to Ohio 741, separate from the acreage Springboro plans to purchase.
