It took crews two days to successfully demolish the former three-story tower at the Yellow Springs Middle and High School. (Submitted photo)
School facilities project enters final stretch
- Published: June 26, 2026
At its Wednesday, June 10, regular meeting, the YS Board of Education received an update on the district’s ongoing facilities project, which is entering its final summer stretch; the meeting was held at MVECA while both Mills Lawn and YS Middle and High School remain under construction.
Superintendent Megan Winston opened the facilities discussion by noting a false start earlier that day at the middle and high school campus, where demolition of the former high school tower had been slated to begin that morning.
“Well, it’s been a day,” Winston said.
Staff and community members had gathered at the school in anticipation of the demolition, she said, including a group of Mills Lawn students who sat nearby cheering for the building to come down.
However, demolition was halted soon after it began: The demolition crew’s excavator poked a large hole in the tower and revealed an insulation material with which workers were unfamiliar, and the crew halted work until they could determine whether or not the material contained toxins or carcinogens.
“Unfortunately, in phased projects, it’s very common for those to be rescheduled for many reasons, and safety is our number one priority,” Winston said.
The material was later found not to contain harmful substances, and demolition resumed Monday, June 15, again witnessed by a group of students, alumni, community members and staff; by Monday evening, enough of the tower had been deconstructed to reveal a cross-section of the rooms inside the three-story facility.
After Winston’s brief report on the demolition stall, Director of Operations Jeff Eyrich delivered the district’s master facilities update, beginning by thanking district staff, administrators, custodians and summer workers for clearing out classrooms ahead of the final leg of the project.
“What a year it’s been,” Eyrich said.
At Mills Lawn, he said, the district is currently in the third phase of renovation work.
The school’s kitchen has been demolished and is expected to be rebuilt soon. East-side classrooms are nearly complete, with carpet, ceiling tiles, cabinetry and sinks nearing completion. Eyrich added that work on the Mills Lawn gym is expected to begin within the next few weeks, with rooftop and gym work forthcoming. A larger “facelift” of the gym — painting, new pads and updates to the stage — is set to begin in early July.
At YS Middle and High School, Eyrich said, work has focused on preparing for the demolition of the tower and removing modular classrooms from the campus.
Two modulars had already been removed by the time of the meeting, and Eyrich said all modulars were expected to be gone this week, after the tower is fully demolished. He also noted that work has begun in the existing gym, which is being converted into the school’s new auditorium, and is expected to be completed in October; the rest of the school is expected to be ready for students by the time the new school year begins.
“I appreciate your support and the ongoing unknowns that we get through,” Eyrich said. “But we make it happen. We will be ready again.”
The June 10 meeting also marked Winston’s first as superintendent, following the retirement of former Superintendent Terri Holden at the end of May.
“Just finished Day 8 of superintendentship,” Winston said during her superintendent’s report. “I feel really lucky to be here in Yellow Springs with such creative students, dedicated teachers, committed family members and definitely the community.”
Exam exemption policy updated
During the latter half of the meeting, the board approved updated student handbooks for Mills Lawn and YS Middle and High School. The new handbooks reflect the shift in school-day start and end times for the coming year: Mills Lawn will operate from 8:15 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. for students in kindergarten through fourth grade, and students in grades five through 12 at YS Middle and High School will attend from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The updated handbook for YS Middle and High School also includes a new policy regarding exam exemptions; as the News reported previously, in March, a group of students spoke before the school board about the attendance-based exam exemption policy, which grants one or two exam exemptions if students maintain at least a 94% attendance rate.
The students asked that the district reconsider the policy on two fronts: first, that illness be taken into account, since sick days count against the attendance threshold for exam exemptions; and second, that the three excused days juniors and seniors are allowed each school year to visit college campuses should not count against potential exam exemptions.
The new handbook policy now allows those excused college visits without a penalty for exam exemptions.
“[YS Middle and High School Principal] Jack Hatert heard from the students and heard from the parents, and they have changed the policy,” Winston said.
Though the policy does not include new language around illness exam exemptions, it does retain previous language stating that “catastrophic student injury or illness may be taken into consideration when determining eligibility for an exemption.”
Owing to summer schedules, the next regular school board meeting will be held Tuesday, July 7, beginning at 6 p.m., at MVECA, located at 888 Dayton St.
Contact: chuck@ysnews.com
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