State giving $3M for 2 schools to expand

CHARTERS

Two Columbus charter schools will receive a combined $3 million from the state to help finance expansions and renovations of their school facilities.

The Arts & College Preparatory Academy was awarded $1.9 million for a project to expand to the seventh and eighth grade, with slots for a total of 100 additional students. The East Side school has 400 students in grades 9-12.

United Preparatory Academy will get $1.1 million to add 70 seats across kindergarten through fourth grade at the West Side school, which has 178 students.

The two schools are among four charter schools in Ohio receiving a total of $4 million from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, which administers the schoolfacilities grant program. The two other winners were Zanesville Community High School and Dayton Early College Academy.

The awards are the second round of grants under the program created in 2015 by state lawmakers. More than $17 million was given last year to eight schools, bringing the total awarded to $21 million.

To qualify, schools must meet benchmarks for high performance that only 10 percent of charter schools now meet.

Tony Gatto, principal of the Arts & College Preparatory Academy, said its project will allow the addition of a cafeteria kitchen as well as the two grades. Student lunches now are delivered by a catering company.

The project includes the renovation of 5,000 square feet in the school, plus a 17,000-square-foot, twostory addition, to be ready for the fall of 2019.

United Preparatory Academy’s project involves a 35,000-squarefoot renovation and will include new science, art and music classrooms.