NEW PHILADELPHIA (WJER) - New Philadelphia school officials are pausing their plans to go to the November ballot as they continue searching for land to build two new school buildings. 

Superintendent David Brand says without the necessary space lined up to build a pre-K through 6th grade and 7-12 building, they felt it was inappropriate to ask voters to pass a $41.9-million bond issue. For now, Brand says the board will keep looking for the necessary acreage with hopes of putting the issue in front of voters by March.

“As critical of a decision as this is, we wanted to make sure we have all the details to make sure the project and the plan is complete, and right now we’re not complete so we need to continue that due diligence,” he says. “We need to continue working towards completing that plan and getting all of those critical elements together so that way the community can fully understand what we’re trying to do and to accomplish to be able to support it.”

In the meantime, Brand says they will keep ironing out the details so they can have a complete blueprint for constituents before they head to the ballot box.

“We’re continually working with and evaluating different land as far as traffic and how do we work with the city to make sure the traffic is correct and to meet all the needs that the community wants, working with the various landowners and having conversations with them and doing it in a process that’s respectful of them and their property,” he says.

Tuesday, the board agreed to submit their building plan to the state in order to secure funding from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission that would cover 55-percent of the project. 

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