An ambitious plan years in the making is coming closer and closer to fruition as the Miami Trace Local Schools community continues to prepare for the opening of a brand-new high school.

At Monday night’s Miami Trace Board of Education meeting, district business manager Bill Franke talked a little bit about the final days before the building opens to students in January.

“There’s a lot of focus on the new high school right now, a lot of tours, a lot of groups have gone through,” said Franke. “It was exciting to see the high school staff go through the building the other day. A lot of them had not been in the building before and they were very excited. Obviously, it’s starting to get real. We’re moving into that phase where we’re getting training scheduled on the various systems. It’s an exciting time.”

A 3.9-mill, 37-year bond issue passed at the May 2015 special election, setting in motion the construction of the new high school located on a nearly 60-acre piece of farmland to the east of the football stadium. The new high school replaces the existing high school that opened in 1962.

Currently, the plan is to close the current high school at the end of the school day on Friday, Dec. 14. The moving process into the new school will begin on Monday, Dec. 17 and should take two to three days to complete. The opening of the new school will be in January 2019.

The grand opening ribbon-cutting for the new high school will be announced very soon, according to Miami Trace Superintendent David Lewis.

Also at Monday’s school board meeting:

– Following a presentation by treasurer Debbie Black, the October financial reports were approved by the board.

– Indoor track was approved as a recognized athletic program, along with Brent Noes, Jeff Creamer and Brianna Mitchell as volunteer indoor track coaches.

– The board approved a K-12 Network Subsidy Grant in the amount of $5,400.

– The district also recognized the Record-Herald with an OSBA Media Honor Roll certificate for “fair and balanced education reporting, and exemplary service to our community.”