Work starting on new $62M Monroe HS is 'massive milestone' for district, superintendent says

Michael D. Clark | Journal-News

Construction noise mixed with the sounds of back-to-school excitement this week at Monroe Local School District’s main campus as earth-moving crews prepared the grounds for a new $62 million high school.

Despite the recent rain, Monroe’s school leader said the much-anticipated project, which is designed to help alleviate years of overcrowding at the district’s main 2nd through 12th grade campus, is on schedule.

“We are thrilled to finally see dirt moving on our campus after months and months of extensive planning,” said Robert Buskirk, superintendent of the 2,850-student Monroe school system near the eastern border area of Butler and Warren counties.

The $62 million project, which has seen Monroe school officials wait for nearly a decade after applying for state school construction funding and winning voter tax approval, is finally becoming a reality for the fast-growing district.

“Watching this vision start to take physical shape is a massive milestone for our district and I share in the immense excitement our students, staff and community feel right now,” said Buskirk.

“As of today, the new high school construction project remains right on schedule for completion and occupancy in the fall of 2028.”

The district’s aging primary school at 225 Macready Road, which was opened in the 1950s, will eventually be closed, with its pre-K, kindergarten and first grade enrollment moved into some of the learning spaces of the Yankee Road 2-12 campus when grades 9-12 are relocated to the new high school in August 2028.

Monroe Schools have more than doubled enrollment to 2,850 students since the current 2-12 school building opened in 2004.

As part of the campus project, a new road is planned to connect the hilltop school grounds to Yankee Road and would be located about 200 yards north of the only single road entrance now available to the school, from Yankee.

“We continue to work closely in collaboration with the city, county, and the Ohio Department of Transportation to secure final approval and we hope to break ground on that portion any day now,” Buskirk said.

The new high school, he said, “represents a bright future for Monroe and we are grateful for the community’s ongoing patience and support as we build it together.”