School project fix will now be done over 2 years

The Brookfield Middle School remediation project that was supposed to be completed this summer will
now be a two-summer affair.
There simply will not be enough time this summer to get all the work done, said Supt. Toby Gibson.
Essentially, work outside the building will be done this summer, and then work inside the building will be
completed next summer, he said May 12.
Design firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. estimated that, to start work this summer, it would not
be completed until December. Coming off a pandemic year in which school was closed for significant
amounts of time, Gibson said that length of disruption would be unacceptable.
“This year, they’re gonna work on sealing off the foundation inside and outside, check and make sure all
the piping goes where it’s supposed to, correct it if needed,” he said. “Kind of regrade outside to eliminate
any water from the outside reaching the shale and causing it to expand even more.”
Officials have said that shale under the middle school is expanding due to exposure to air and water,
which is lifting up the floor and causing walls to crack.
Next year, damaged walls, floors and fixtures will be removed and replaced, Gibson said.
“The hope is that the work will be done between May and September of 2022,” said J.C. Benton,
spokesman for the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission, the district’s partner in the construction of the school in 2011.
“Since a considerable amount of work will not be done until next year, there has not been a hurry to get
the design work done and it is not yet complete,” Benton said.
Although scheduling for next year’s work has not been set, it’s possible construction could begin after
state testing in the spring, and the middle school could go remote for the end of the year, Gibson said.
The district and OFCC have filed suit against two firms, alleging improper design and handling of the soil
when the building was built and during a 2013 attempted fix. That case is scheduled to go to trial in
September in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.