YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities has a budget of $1.6 million to renovate a portion of the Leonard Kirtz School.

The Woodridge Drive school for kids with developmental disabilities serves 70 to 80 students from 14 school districts.

But the 70,000-square-foot facility was built to hold many more students, Bill Whitacre, superintendent of the Mahoning County Board of Developmental Disabilities, said.

At one point the school served about 300 students, Whitacre said.

Because so much of the school isn’t needed for education, Whitacre said he and the board of developmental disabilities thought the space could be put to better use.

About 15,000 square feet will be renovated into offices for service support administrators, also known as case managers.

Because the school is owned by the Mahoning County commissioners, Whitacre came to them for approval last week to hire GDP Group to design the renovations.

Of the $1.6 million budget, about $1.1 million is expected to spent on the demolition and reconstruction work, Whitacre said. The rest is being spent on design and furnishings, Whitacre said.

Whitacre said the renovations will allow all of the board’s case managers to work in one place, as they are now scattered among two or three buildings.

Although the board has downsized some staff in recent years, the need for case managers has grown, Whitacre said. That is because federal mandates forced the board, and boards across the state and country, to stop directly supplying services to those with developmental disabilities in order to prevent a perceived conflict of interest. But, the board still must provide case management work to people with developmental disabilities, and that number has risen from about 1,200 in 2014 to about 1,500 now, Whitacre said.

“We serve more people in total, just not directly. We are required to pay for the services, we just don’t provide them,” Whitacre said.

Once the move is complete, all of the board’s staff will be located at the Leonard Kirtz School or the nearby board office.

The money generated by the county levy supporting the board’s activities will pay for the renovations, Whitacre said. The board does not have to raise capital improvement money separately from general fund revenue as school districts do, Whitacre said.

Whitacre said fewer kids are attending the Leonard Kirtz School, not because of a drop in need, but because home school districts are “better equipped” to educate children with developmental disabilities than schools used to be.

The project is being designed to accommodate the board’s needs for the next few decades, Whitacre said.

Once a decision is made on the design elements, a bid process is expected to select a contractor.

In addition to the renovation news, a different change at the federal level is expected to make it easier for service providers to retain staff, Whitacre explained.

The board, the state and the federal government reimburses certified providers for services provided to people with developmental disabilities. Direct care workers are the people employed by the providers to help the clients with daily activities, personal hygiene, cooking meals and maintaining a household.

The average pay for a staff member that can be reimbursed is $11.12 per hour.

“At this point we are having a hard time competing in the industry when fast food restaurants and convenient stores pay more. And, it is a difficult job. There is a high level of responsibility, especially in a residential setting. With such a low individual hourly rate, they have a hard time attracting and retaining workers,” Whitacre said.

In January, that average wage will rise to $12.82 an hour and in 2021 it will rise to $13.23 per hour.

rfox@tribtoday.com