After the failure of a May 2019 bond issue to replace Milford Junior High School and renovate other district facilities, Milford School District formed a Community Advisory Team (CAT) composed of district residents including parents, retirees, business owners, and staff. The team of close to 70 also includes a balance of community members who opposed the May issue, as well as, those who were supporters of the issue. The team's objective is to develop and present a consensus proposal on the district's Master Facilities Plan to the Milford Board of Education this fall. First, the district is hosting six Community Outreach Meetings to gather feedback on the current CAT proposals.

Since the end of June, there have been five Community Advisory Team meetings led by Milford Superintendent Nancy House. She has led the team through the history of the district’s master facility plan and the district's vision and aspirations for preparing Milford students for their future.  Construction industry representatives also attended a meeting to share their insights and answer questions on the planning, bidding, and construction process. In addition, the CAT learned more about the conditions of district facilities and toured Milford High School. They were able to compare newer rooms in the Ninth Grade Community wing addition to the 1960s’ classrooms in the older wing of the high school. The CAT learned how state funding works and participated in a question and answer session with a representative from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission about why the district has been unable to receive these OFCC dollars for this phase of the master facility plan. 

“We encouraged members of the advisory team to put all the options on the table for the master facility plans. We then took a harder look at these options and narrowed them down to 10 to share for the first round of community feedback,” Mrs. House said.

House said that a total of six Community Outreach Meetings will be held to give the community an opportunity to provide feedback on these Community Advisory Team master facility plan options. The first round of meetings was held the last week of August. For the convenience of district residents, meetings will be held at a variety of times. All meetings will be held at the District Administrative Offices, 1099 State Route 131, Milford.

Second Round of Community Outreach Meetings

• September 10, 2019 ~ 9:00 – 10:00 a.m.

• September 11, 2019 ~ 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

• September 11, 2019 ~ 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

At the first round of Community Outreach Meetings, Mrs. House will share ten different options with participants. Through an interactive program called Mentimeter, participants are able to share feedback indicating how strongly they favor or oppose each option. After the end of the first round, Mrs. House will share the results with the Community Advisory Team. The task of the team will be to narrow the options down to 5-6 and further study the viability of these facility options including approximate cost.

“The August Community Outreach Meetings are a preliminary step in this community engagement and planning process. With this feedback our CAT can narrow down the ideas for the second round of feedback at three more Community Outreach meetings in September,” Mrs. House said.

The next meeting of the CAT will be on September 5 with the objective to review the data from the Community Outreach meetings and narrow the plan options. The second round of Community Outreach will be held the week of September 9.  The sixth and final meeting of the CAT will then be held on September 18 to finalize the plan and prepare to present the preferred Facility Master Plan to the Milford Board of Education.

Mrs. House shared that the district will hire a construction cost estimator to provide estimates for the one or two preferred plans. The Board will review these plans before selecting one and voting on funding options. The earliest possible option for a bond issue would be at the March primary.