By Mark North
My name is Mark North and I will be the superintendent of Fairborn City Schools beginning Aug. 1. My family and I will be moving to the Fairborn community by July and my two daughters will be attending Fairborn City Schools. I am excited to explore the community and I look forward to meeting community members as I learn more about the city and the opportunities here. I believe that with the commitment of staff, students and families, Fairborn City Schools will continue to grow and flourish.
During the interview process, I met many committed and passionate school employees and community members who care deeply about the children and schools in Fairborn. As I met and spoke with these people, I found that with a focused direction and plan, there is nothing that cannot be achieved or overcome.
Because the summer months will pass quickly, I wanted to take the opportunity to provide a brief introduction and to begin to share important information about our two elementary schools — Fairborn Primary School (formerly Five Points) and Fairborn Intermediate School (formerly Palmer-South). The Fairborn City School District is working with the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) to assess our current aged buildings. Through OFCC, building evaluations were completed by architects and engineers-with experience in building assessments and who with their expertise, are providing an outside professional evaluation of the buildings.
For this month’s column, I will highlight the building in the worst condition per OFCC guidelines — Fairborn Primary School (formerly Five Points) was constructed in 1957, 1961. The external evaluation of Fairborn Primary indicates the following needs replaced:
Heating system, roof, electrical system, plumbing, windows, general finishes, interior lighting, security system, technology, emergency egress lighting, fire alarm, handicapped access, site conditions, exterior doors, hazardous materials, life safety and loose furnishings.
Per OFCC guidelines, Fairborn Primary School is rated as the building in the worst condition in the district. From the summary report compiled by Thomas Porter Architects and the OFCC:
– Ventilation system is inadequate to meet the needs of users/classrooms are undersized.
– Electrical system for the facility is inadequate/school is not equipped with a compliant security system.
– Building has a non-compliant automatic fire alarm system.
– Facility is not equipped with an automated fire suppression system.
– Building contains asbestos.
– Overall building is not compliant with ADA accessibility requirements.
– Access onto the site is restricted.
Alongside this column, you will see several photographs which clearly show and describe the deterioration of key systems within the building infrastructure.
The purpose of sharing this information is so that the Fairborn community can begin to understand the conditions of our schools. Again, Fairborn Primary School is rated the worst in the district. For next month’s column, I will share more important information and will talk about the conditions of Fairborn Intermediate School. This information will also be shared on our school district website (www.fairborn.k12.oh.us), included in our community newsletters and shared via social media.
I am looking forward to meeting with community members and working to make Fairborn City Schools the very best they can be!
